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THE 


KNOCKABOUT   CLUB. 

By   C.    A.   STEPHENS, 

AUTHOR    OF  "  THE    YOUNG    MOOSE-HUNTERS,"     "  CAMPING    OUT,"    ETC. 


NOW     PUBLISHED. 

KNOCKABOUT   CLUB    IN    THE    WOODS. 
KNOCKABOUT   CLUB    ALONGSHORE. 
KNOCKABOUT    CLUB    IN    THE    TROPICS. 
— ♦ — 

TO    BE   FOLLOWED    BY 

KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  m  the  EVERGLADES. 


A    MEMORY    OF    MEXICO. 


THE 


Knockabout  Club 


In  the  Tropics. 


THE    ADVENTURES     OF   A    PARTY    OF     YOUNG    MEN    IN 
NEW  MEXICO,  MEXICO,  AND   CENTRAL  AMERICA. 


BY 

C.     A.     STEPHENS, 

AUTHOR    OF   "THE    KNOCKABOUT    CLUB   ALONGSHORE,"      "THE   YOUNG    MOOSE-HUNTERS," 
"CAMPING    OUT,"    ETC. 


FULLY    ILLUSTRATED. 


BOSTON: 

ESTES     AND     LAURIAT, 

301-305  Washington  Street. 

1884 


Copyright,  1883, 
By    Estes    and    Lauriat. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

When,  Why,  and  Where n 

I.  In  New  Mexico       ..........  20 

II.     El  Paso .  72 

III.  Christmas  Tide  in  New  Orleans 88 

IV.  In  La  Habana  .........  96 

V.     A  Primitive  Milk-cart 108 

VI.     Carnival 128 

VII.     On  Board  the  "City  of  Merida" 144 

VIII.  Harbor  of  Vera  Cruz        ........  152 

IX.  About  the  City           .........  164 

X.  Overland  Party          .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .181 

XI.     In  Quest  of  Coal  Mines 189 

XII.     Santa  Semana 202 

XIII.     Another  Synod ,         .  214 

XIV       POPOCATAPETL 23 1 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 

A  Memory  of  Mexico  .  .  Frontispiece 
"Well,    Gentlemen"    (Parlor    Car 

scene) 13 

The  Peaks  of  Los  Vegas  ....  23 

A  Ground  Sweat 24 

Santa  Fe 25 

On  the  Line  of  the  Railroad       .     .  26 

A  Native 27 

Ancient  Mexican  Vase     ....  28 

Pueblo    Interior 29 

A  Mexican  Cart 32 

Pioneer  Life 33 

Pueblo  of  Taos 36 

A  New  Mexican  Hacienda    ...  39 

Bats  Going  out    .......  50 

Right  Hand  Half  of  a  Pipe  of  Peace,  55 

Going  up  the  Table-Lands     ...  59 

Along  the  Bluff 63 

Scene  in  New  Mexico  ....  67 
"  Shades,     pe    careful     vare     you 

shoots !  " 69 

A  Desert 78 

Chihuahua 81 

An  Interior 84 

Getting  a  Start 86 

New  Orleans 89 

Mouth  of  the  Mississippi  River      .  92 

Jacksonville,  Florida 93 

St.  Augustine       95 


PAGE 

Havana 97 

Avenues  of  Palms 101 

Moses'  Siesta 105 

Cut  of  Fountain 109. 

Milk  Cart in 

Havana 113; 

Scene  in  Cuba 117 

Horses  Bathing 119. 

Attempted  Assassination  .     .     .     .  121 

In  Every  Land .123 

John  Chinaman 124 

Chinese  at  his  Devotions .     .     .     .  125 

Relics  of  Columbus 126 

Gathering  Palms 129 

Killing  the  Snake 133 

A  Tragic  Incident 138 

In  the  Wind  and  Water     ....  142 

Sea  Eagles  Fighting 147 

Vera  Cruz 149 

View  in  Tierra  Caliente    .     .     .     .  153 

Beggar        155 

Table-Land  of  Mexico      .     .     .     .  156 

Hen-Coop 159 

Calendar  Stone 160 

The  Canal  —  Ruins  of  covered  way 
to  the  Inquisition — San  Cosme 

Aqueduct,  City  of  Mexico      .     .  162 

Popocatapetl 165 

Virgin  of  Guadaloupe 167 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 

Cathedral,  Mexico 168 

A  Dangerous  Adventure   .     .     .     .  171 

Queretaro  from  the  Hill  of  Bells   .  173 

Maximilian  —  Carlotta      ....  178 

Death  of  Maximilian 180 

Indian  Hut 182 

Church  at  Santiago 183 

Young  Ocelots 187 

The  Herd  of  Mountain  Sheep    .     .  190 

Silver  Mine 191 

Prospecting 193 

In  Mexico 195 

Silver  Country 198 

Street  Scene  in  Mexico     ....  203 

A  Native  Lady 205 

Canal  of  La  Viga,  City  of  Mexico  .  206 

Scene  during  Santa  Semana     .     .  207 


PAGE 

Spanish  Beggar  in  Mexico     .     .     .  208 
Spanish    Grandee    on   His  Way  to 

the    Fight 209 

The  Matador 212 

Chapultepec 213 

Castle  of   Chapultepec     ....  217 

Pyramid  of  Cholula 218 

Ruins  in  Mexico 221 

Mexican  War  God,  Huitzelopochtli,  223 

Aztec  Writing 224 

Aztec  Idol 225 

Aztec  Numbers 226 

Mexican  Priests  of  the  Past      .     .  229 

General  Porfirio  Diaz 230 

Game  of  the  Fliers 232 

An  Ancient  Aztec  Teocelli  .     .     .  234 

Montezuma 236 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE  TROPICS. 


WHEN,   WHY,   AND    WHERE. 

•IME:  Nov.  19th,  the  season  following  the  cruise  of  the 
"Knockabout  Club  Alongshore,"  to  Greenland  in  June, 
and  its  return  to  Boston  in  September. 

Place:  Drawing-room  car  Las  Cruces,  Santa  Fe 
Railroad,  en  route  for  the  city  of  Mexico  via  Santa 
Fe,  El  Paso,  and  Chihuahua. 

The  idea  of  combining  study  and  travel  in  place  of 
a  mere  book  education,  was  first  broached  and  put  in 
practice  by  the  Camping-Out  Club  in  1872. 
YBAR-  Later,  the  Steamship  College  Association  attempted  it 

Q^rO       on  a  grander  scale.     The  present  Knockabout  Club  has 
Qua    nfl  been  acting  on  the  same  idea  now  for  two  seasons  past, 
as  recorded  in  the  two  preceding  volumes  of  this  series 
of  travels. 

The  main  points  of  the  scheme  will  be  readily  appre- 
hended from  the  following  record  of  the  proceedings  of 
the  club  immediately  on  meeting  for  the  trip,  at  La  Junta, 
Colorado.  For  since  some  members  of  our  fraternity 
hail  from  California  and  some  from  Massachusetts,  this 
obscure  little  junction  on  the  plains  was  the  most  con- 
eav.  venient  place  of  rendezvous  for  the  tour  of  Mexico. 
From  this  point  to  El  Paso,  the  exclusive  use  of  the  car  had  J3een 
secured  by  the  party  for  seven  days,  if  desired,  it  being  our  intention 
to  see  whatever  was  of  interest  in  New  Mexico  first,  and  in  Old 
Mexico  later. 


MIDNIGHT. 


I2  THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE   TROPICS. 

On  this  trip  our  hearts  were  gladdened  by  the  presence  of  that 
former  promoter  and  pioneer  of  the  Steamship  College  idea,  Mr. 
G.  W.  Burleigh,  whom  some  of  our  readers  may  remember  as 
"Wash."  It  was  he  who  —  by  common  acclamation  —  made  the 
informal  opening  speech  as  soon  as  we  were  comfortably  "  fixed  "  in 
the  Las  Cruces. 

"  Well,  gentlemen,"  said  he,  "  here  we  are,  and  every  man  of  you 
—  if  I  know  myself  and  can  read  your  faces,  knows  "what  he  is  here 
for.  It  is  to  prove  to  the  American  public  that  our  plan  of  getting 
an  education  is  the  correct  one  —  prove  it  by  ourselves  as  an  illustra- 
tion of  it.  That  ma)'  not  sound  modest,  if  our  scribe  records  it  in  his 
book,  but  it  is  business,  nevertheless.  So  man}'  theories  are  broached 
to  the  public  every  year  that  we  cannot  expect  people  to  hail  them 
all  with  transports  of  joy.  It  is  only  the  theories  that  are  proved  to 
be  corj-ect  which  command  attention.  All  great  ideas,  too,  must  have 
time  to  take  root  and  grow  in  the  public  mind.  It  was  so  with  rail- 
ways; it  was  so  with  the  telegraph;  and  it  will  be  so  with  our  new 
plan  of  education.  Its  utility  and  its  superiority  will  have  to  be 
demonstrated  before  our  people  will  accept  it.  Thus  far  the  idea  has 
had  to  push  its  own  way  to  public  notice.  Ten  years  ago  four  boys 
(Raed,  Wade,  Wash,  and  Kit)  set  off  afoot  and  alone  to  the  Maine 
woods,  studying  and  making  notes  on  natural  history,  botany,  and 
geology  as  they  travelled.  At  night  they  camped  out  and  cooked 
their  own  food.  At  the  end  of  their  tour  they  came  back  hale,  hearty, 
and  with  the  feeling  that  they  had  taken  in  a  good  deal;  that  they 
had  learned  more  than  if  they  had  been  in  a  college  for  the  same 
time.  Out  of  this  experience,  in  time,  grew  the  project  for  a  steamship 
college,  —  a  "college"  that  should  combine  travel  and  stud)'  in  the 
most  world-wide  sense.  They  worked  at  this  idea  and  tried  to  raise 
the  necessary  million  of  dollars  to  fit  out  a  steamship.  But  the  time 
was  unfortunately  chosen.  The  commercial  panic  of  1873-74  paralyzed 
everything.     The  enterprise  came  to  a  standstill;  and  the  Woodruff 


5 


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WHEN,    WHY,  AND    WHERE.  ^ 

expedition,  —  an  imitation  of  the  Steamship  College  plan,  —  which 
meant  well,  but  was  badly  managed,  gave  the  public  an  erroneous 
impression  of  our  undertaking,  which  by  no  means  helped  it  forward. 

"But  a  great  idea  will  not  die.  You,  gentlemen,  took  it  up,  and 
are,  in  a  practical  and  common-sense  way,  putting  it  to  test,  and 
giving  the  public  the  net  results  of  your  experience.  No  better  plan 
could  have  been  chosen.  You  are  doing  wisely.  Slowly  but  surely 
you  will  win  public  opinion  to  this  mode  of  educating  boys;  and  the 
boys  of  the  next  generation  will  thank  you  for  it.  The  age  of  dull, 
dreary  text-books  is  passing;  a  better  method  of  teaching  is  coming 
in.     You,  gentlemen,  are  its  pioneers. 

"  I  know  your  plans  and  methods  for  this  tour  of  Mexico,  I  think, 
but  I  shall  be  glad  to  hear  them  stated  clearly." 

In  response,  our  Club  president,  Mr.  Dearborn  (whom  former 
readers  may  remember  as  "  Harold  "),  said:  — 

"  Our  plans  are  very  simple.  We  have  no  constitution  or  by-laws. 
We  are  merely  to  keep  our  eyes  open  as  we  go,  see  all  we  can  and 
make  a  note  of  all  worth  remembering,  or  which  bids  fair  to  be  of  any 
use  to  us  in  after-life.  As  we  journey,  different  members  of  the  Club 
will  stop  at  different  places  for  a  few  hours,  or  a  day,  in  order  that  the 
whole  ground  may  be  covered  and  as  many  objects  of  interest  seen  as 
possible.  Every  evening,  or  every  second  or  third  evening,  as  most 
convenient,  we  are  to  confer  and  compare  notes.  Each  one  will  then 
tell  what  he  has  seen  and  noted,  so  that  mutually  we  may  each  get 
the  benefit  of  what  the  whole  Club  has  observed. 

K  Out  of  all  this  the  scribe  is  to  select  what  he  deems  the  most  inter- 
esting, which  is  to  be  published  in  book-form  for  the  express  purpose 
of  interesting  other  young  men  and  boys  in  our  mode  of  education. 

"  As  I  have  said,  we  have  no  fixed  rules.  In  fact,  I  have  stated 
about  all  there  is  to  state  by  way  of  a  curriculum.  Briefly,  it  is  to 
travel  abroad,  see  everything  worth  seeing  and  take  it  in,  so  that  it 
can  always  be  of  use." 


i6 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE    TROPICS. 


"  One  thing  more,"  Brett  remarked.     "  It  is  a  matter  of  secondar}' 
importance,  perhaps;  but  it  is  one  that  has  been  several  times  sug- 


gested   and 

Each  one  is  advised  to 
have  at  hand  some  really 
good  book,  some  standard 
history,  scientific  work,  or 
novel  of  the  better  class, 
to  read  at  odd  hours.  This 
in  addition  to  newspapers 


CYfN.V. 


and       maga-     ^'^W^V'iMr 
zines,    which  ^K^^:^t$J3 
every    one    •  *^y^iV4i$&$ 


reads,  of 
course,  and  which  really  form  one 
of  the  best  helps  to  education  that 
the  times  afford." 


WHEN,    WHY,   AND    WHERE. 


J7 


"  It  has  sometimes  been  talked,  too,"  remarked  Davis,  (Moses 
O.)  "  that  different  members  of  the  Club  should  direct  their  attention 
specially  in  different  lines  of  observation.  For  example,  Brother 
Stein  has  sometimes  looked  after  the  mineralogy  and  geology  of  a 
country,  having  a  taste,  personally,  for  those  things.  On  the  other 
hand,  Forney,  who  has  had  the  advantages  of  a  West  Point  course  of 
study,  attends  to  the  military  matters  and  looks  up  the  forts  and 
soldiers.  For  a  like  reason,  Mr.  Garland,  whose  previous  studies  have 
been  of  a  theological  nature,  makes  a  specialty  of  the  churches,  reli- 
gion, and  morals  of  the  people.  While  Karzy  attends  to  the  pictures, 
statuary,  and  art  matters  generally;  also  makes  pictures  for  the  pub- 
lished account  of  the  tour,  and  intends  taking  photographic  views,  if  I 
rightly  construe  the  purport  of  that  little  portable  camera  which 
adorns  his  hips  at  odd  hours.  In  this  way  a  profitable  division  of 
labor,  or  rather  of  eyesight,  is  proportioned  off;  and  the  results  thus 
far  have  been,  to  speak  conventionally,  of  a  highly  satisfactory  char- 
acter.    In  other  words,  it  works  well." 

**■  Yes,  it  works  well  in  Moses'  opinion,"  Karzy  observed.  "  For  in 
the  way  he  has  divided  the  labor  of  eyesight,  you  will  observe  that 
he  has  taken  no  share  to  himself.     That  suits  Moses." 

"  If  I  have  arrogated  no  part  of  this  responsibility  to  myself  it  is 
from  my  modesty,  I  am  sure,"  insisted  Moses.  "  Besides,  I  have  a 
share  and  a  heavy  one;  I  have  the  whole  Club  to  lookout  for.  I  have 
to  labor  with  railway  conductors  and  intimidate  sleepy  car-porters  and 
hotel-clerks.  I  have  to  get  bargains  in  cars,  and,  generally  speaking, 
stand  between  the  great,  hard-fisted  world  and  my  more  ethereally 
minded  fellow-clubsmen.  Why,  I  hired  this  car  for  seventy  dollars 
when  our  worthy  president  was  just  going  to  pay  a  hundred  and  ten. 
I  got  c  circus  rates '  for  the  whole  Club,  when  our  friend,  the  scribe, 
was  just  on  the  point  of  paying  regular  fare.  Same  thing  at  the 
hotels,  too.  Do  you  call  that  no  share,  my  boy?  Why,  my  dear 
fellow,  if  you.  were  to  let  these  Western  railroads  and  hotels  have  their 


!§  THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE    TROPICS. 

own  sweet  will  with  us  we  should  reach  the  far-famed  city  of  the 
Montezumas  only  to  enter  a  third-class  poor-house,  if  they  have  them. 
Without  arrogance,  as  I  said,  I  deem  myself  the  financial  backstay  of 
the  whole  Club.  It  is  my  business  to  see  that  nobody  beats  us,  and, 
well,  to  beat  the  other  side  as  much  as  is  consistent  with  the  dignity  of 
the  Club.  I've  got  a  gauge  on  that.  It  is  my  sphere  to  level  all 
obstacles  which  get  in  our  way.  In  fact,  to  use  a  railroad  term,  I'm 
the  cow-catcher  of  this  party;  and  I  don't  spare  myself.  For  instance, 
at  Denver,  where  I  obtained  !  circus  rates'  at  the  hotel  there  for  the 
party,  the  clerk  had  the  impudence  to  ask  me  if  I  were  the  clown. 
Now,  in  all  fairness,  I  judged  that  to  be  a  joke  and  a  too  personal  one 
to  let  him  get  away  with  and  still  command  his  highest  respect,  which 
I  was  bound  to  have,  of  course.  I  took  time.  I  looked  him  all  over, 
his  diamond  pin  and  all;  then  I  reached  over  slowly  and  putting  my 
hand  confidentially  on  his  shoulder,  drew  him  over  toward  me,  with 
an  amount  of  physical  power  which  I  think  our  friend  Stein  here 
would  have  estimated  at  three  hundred  foot-pounds.  I  fairly  raised 
him  on  to  the  register  and  whispered  in  his  ear,  "Yes,  marm,  I'm  just 
that,  and  if  you  are  not  satisfied  about  me,  I  will  give  you  (here  I  put 
about  three  hundred  foot-pounds  more)  a  perfectly  satisfactory  guar- 
antee.' 

"*Allright!  all  right!'  said  he.  That's  all  right! '  and  I  eased  him 
back.     You  see  how  I  have  to  work." 

"Yes,"  said  Harold,  "Moses  is  all  he  claims  to  be,  ay,  more.  He 
is  more  than  the  backstay  he  is  the  backbone,  and  a  big  one.  But 
there  is  another  matter.  When  we  first  began  our  series  of  trips  and 
tours,  we  were  nicknamed  the  Knockabout  Club  by  outsiders,  who 
only  partially  comprehended  our  motives  for  travel.  That  name  stuck 
to  us  and  we  adopted  it.  But  there  are  certain  members  who  objected 
to  the  name,  as  sounding  too  rough-and-tumble,  and  as  calculated  to 
give  the  public  an  erroneous  idea  of  our  scheme  of  self-education. 
One  member  wishes  the  Club  to  be  rechristened  as  The  Athenian 


WHEN,    WHY,   AND    WHERE. 


r9 


Club,  because,  he  says,  we  are  like  the  ancient  Athenians,  in  that  we 
are  on  the  lookout  constantly  to  hear  or  find  out  some  new  thing." 

"I  suggest  in  all  seriousness,  gentlemen,  that  we  be  called  the 
Athenian  Club,"  said  Karzy.     "  I  like  that  name  far  better." 

Some  discussion  followed.  Several  other  names  were  suggested. 
But  the  majority  did  not  believe  it  worth  the  while  to  change  the 
name.  This  sentiment  was  fairly  well  expressed  by  Moses  O.,  who 
said:  — 

"  Let  folks  call  us  what  they  like.  If  we  are  all  right,  fair,  square, 
and  honorable,  and  put  our  idea  through,  we  shall  make  any  name 
they  choose  to  call  us  respectable.  We  are  no  dilettantes,  anyhow. 
The  Knockabout  Club  is  a  good  enough  name  for  us.  It's  like  a  stiff 
brown  paper  cover;  it  will  wear  well  and  won't  show  dirt.  A  nicer 
one,  with  ferns  and  lilies  on  it,  might  get  soiled." 

So  the  matter  of  the  Club  name  was  tabled  for  the  present. 


CHAPTER    I. 


IN     NEW     MEXICO. ADOBE     PEOPLE. EL     PASO. THE      CLUB      IN      SYNOD. A 

CROUND  SWEAT.  A  CHINESE  FUNERAL. SANTE  FE. OLD  SPANISH  MINING. 

—  TURQUOIS.  KARZY'S    STORY  OF    TURLEY's    MILL.  IN    A    KANSAS    PARLOR. 

A  DROLL    MINE. MILLIONS    OF    THEM  ? INDIANS,  BOYS,  AND    BATS. A    BEE 

STORY. BEARS.  A  SORELY  TROUBLED  DUTCHMAN. 


ROM  La  Junta,  five  hours  across  the 
plains,  and  through  the  outlying  spurs 
of  the    Rockies,   brought    us    to    the 
long  tunnel  (700  meters),  where  the 
railway    pierces    the     "  divide "    and 
crosses    the    boundary   between    Colorado  and 
New  Mexico.       Immediately    we  reached  the 
flourishing    new    town    of  Raton    (the    word 
means    mouse),    situated   in    the  midst  of  char- 
acteristic New-Mexican  scenery:  plains  bounded 
all  around  by  tall,  saw-tooth  peaks,  now  clad  in 
snow.       Snow,    indeed,   was    seen   lying    to   the 
&j///um;MBS^==3i  depth  of  three  and  four  inches   on   the   ground 
beside    the    track.       This    was    on   the    19th    of 
November.      It   must  be   borne   in   mind    that  New  Mexico  lies    at 
an  elevation  of  from  five  thousand  to  seven  thousand  feet  above  sea- 
level. 

The  Americans  here  are  either  miners  and  stock-raisers,  or  rail- 
way employees.  There  is,  moreover,  a  kind  of  groicnd  population 
of  mongrel  Mexicans  who  live  in  adobe  huts,  at  scattered  ranches  and 
in    old    mission     hamlets.       The     external     characteristics    of    these 


AT  EL  PASO.  21 

indigines  are  squalor,  stagnancy,  and  perennial  small-pox.  Once 
seen  is  seen  enough.  Of  all  the  animal  species  which  old  Mother 
Earth  has  from  time  to  time  produced,  the  genus  "Greaser"  is  about 
the  dullest  and  most  hopeless. 

The  larger  New-Mexican  towns  —  Las  Vegas,  Santa  Fe,  Albu- 
querque, Socorro  —  are  at  present  in  a  curious  state  of  transition  from 
"  Greaser  "  lethargy  to  West-American  push  and  rush.  Whether  the 
"Greaser"  can  be  waked  up  into  a  citizen  is  the  standing  problem  in 
these  parts  just  now.  There  are  bets  on  it  even.  No  one  can  quite  say 
as  yet.     He  looks  very  tired,  very  sleepy.     It  is,  in  truth,  a  tired  race. 

Karzy  and  Mr.  Garland  stopped  off  at  Raton  —  to  explore. 
Moses,  Harold,  "Wash,"  and  the  scribe  left  the  car  at  Las  Vegas 
and  went  up  to  the  hot-springs,  distant  six  miles.  These  hot  sulphur 
springs  are  becoming  within  the  last  two  years  a  notable  resort  for 
invalids.  But  our  party  went  merely  to  see  the  place  and  get  a  good 
dinner  at  its  really  fine  hotel.  A  good  dinner  and  a  comfortable  hotel 
are  not  yet  so  common  in  New  Mexico  as  to  be  objects  of  indiffer- 
ence. Stein,  Brett,  and  Forney  continued  on  to  Santa  Fe  and  Albu- 
querque; and  it  was  not  till  the  twenty-fourth  of  the  month,  five  days 
after,  that  we  all  met  again,  at  El  Paso,  on  the  frontier. 

El  Paso,  situated  as  it  is  at  the  gateway  of  travel  and  trade  into  Mex- 
ico, will  no  doubt  be  one  of  the  leading  cities  of  the  Southwest  in  the  not 
distant  future.  But  it  is  located  in  a  terribly  dreary  region,  a  desert, 
which  stretches  east  and  west  from  Middle  Texas  to  Fort  Yuma. 
Little  or  no  rain,  a  pitiless  summer  sun,  and  dust  blizzards,  so  dense 
that  a  man  may  get  lost  in  his  own  door-yard,  are  the  climatic 
features. 

As  the  car  was  still  at  our  service,  we  thought  it  as  well  to  lodge 
in  it  and  have  our  food  brought  from  a  restaurant.  It  was  on  the  car, 
therefore,  that  we  had  our  first  dinner  together,  and  then  proceeded 
to  compare  notes  and  tell  what  each  had  seen  and  heard  in  New 
Mexico. 


22 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE   TROPICS. 


Harold,  acting  as  chairman  for  the  time,  opened  the  "  synod  "  by 
asking     Moses     O.     what    he     knew;  /"^ 

"What  do  you  know  to-day,  Moses?" 
was  his  question. 


/ 


\ 


.X\ 


.\ 


^stiSgl 


rffl 


i      ' 


ver)'  prop-g,~5*^^^g 
erly  object-^p-^:"^^^^'^ 
ed.       Well,'"'  ^^ 

then,  what 
have  you 
seen?" 

"I've  seen  a  man  take  a.  ground  sweat"  replied  Moses. 

K  K  ground  sweat  1     That  sounds  serious,"  Brett  said. 


A    GROUND  SWEAT. 


23 


"Not  very  serious;  on  the  contrary,  it  was  rather  laughable,"  said 
Moses;  whereupon  he  discoursed  to  us  as  follows  on  the  subject:  — 


A   GROUND   SWEAT. 

Now  and  then  we  hear  of  a  sick  person  who,  seized  by  some  instinctive 
impulse,  has  had  himself  buried  to  the  chin  in  the  ground ;  and  either  from  the 
corrective  properties  resident  in  the  bosom  of  Mother  Earth,  or  from  the  ener- 
getic action  of  his  faith,  a  cure  has  followed  on  the  whim. 

The  earth,  meaning  the  fresh,  clean  ground,  is  undoubtedly  surcharged  with 
electric  and  vital  forces,  since  all  forms  of  life  are  seen  to  rise  from  its  surface. 

At  Las  Vegas  we  witnessed  a 
more  practical  and  systematic  appli- 
cation of  the  ground-cure  idea.  Here 
at  the  foot  of  the  mountains,  on  the 
south  banks  of  the  Rio  Gallinas,  are 
numerous  hot  sulphur  springs,  where 
from  time  immemorial  the  Mexican 
people  had  been  wont  to  bathe  for 
various  diseases.  An  extensive  bath- 
house has  been  erected  within  the 
past  year,  into  which  the  hot  water 
from  the  various  springs,  to  the  num- 
ber of  eighteen  or  twenty,  is  brought, 
and  the  accommodations  greatly  en- 
larged for  taking  both  tub  and  vapor 
baths,  for  the  purification  of  diseased 
organisms. 

The  earth  below  the  springs 
through  which  the  mineral  waters 
trickled  down  to  the  river  has  been 
found  to  be  very  strongly  impreg- 
nated with  these  chemical  elements, 
which  the  water  brings  up  from  deep 
in  the  earth.  Of  late,  the  idea  of  giv- 
ing invalids  a  "ground  sweat,"  so  to 
speak,  in  this  chemically  strong  earth,  has  entered  the  minds  of  physicians,  and 
been  put  in  practice,  with  good  results,  it  is  alleged. 


THE   PEAKS   OF   LAS   VEGAS. 


24 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE   TROPICS. 


On  the  day  of  our  visit  the  bath-house,  or  rather  the  bath-shed,  presented  a 
truly  singular  spectacle.  Four  long,  deep  bath-troughs  of  deal  planks  were  here 
set  in  a  row.  Each  was  filled  to  the  brim  with  black  mud  of  the  consistency  of 
thick  treacle,  and  of  a  temperature  of  from  ninety-eight  to  one  hundred  and  six 
degrees.  At  the  hour  when  we  entered  the  shed  each  of  the  troughs  had 
at  one  end  what  looked  to  be  a  human  head  set  on  a  little  brown  rubber 
pillow. 

And  they  were  heads !     Immediately  they  began  to  smile,  then  to  talk. 
Nor  were  they  dissevered  heads.     The  bodies   to  which  they  belonged  were 
simply  down  in  the  black  mud  out  of  sight.     The  heat  can  be  increased  to  as 
hot  as  the  person  can  bear.     A 
strong  odor  of  sulphur  emanates  I     I 

from  the  mud  ;  and  on  the  whole 
the  association  of  ideas  and  odors 
was  hardly  pleasant,  and  had  a 
purgatorial  suggestion.  Yet 
for  persons  in  limbo  the  bathers 


A   GROUND   SWEAT. 

seemed  quite  merry ;  they  talked,  joked,  laughed.  Often  they  remain  in  the  mud 
for  an  hour  or  more,  and  come  out  in  a  somewhat  parboiled  condition,  but  much 
regenerated  physically,  as  they  seemed  to  think.  The  superintendent  told  us  of 
several  apparently  wonderful  cures  ;  and  if  ever  any  of  you  are  so  unfortunate 
as  to  be  troubled  with  ailments  of  an  obscure  nature,  I  should  be  inclined  to 
advise  a  ground  sweat. 


"  We  will  think  of  it,"  said  Harold. 


SANTE  FE. 


25 


"  Santa  Fe  is  really  a  rather  interesting  old  town,"  said  Stein.  "  It  is 
the  second  oldest  town  in  the  United  States,  I  believe,  if  not  the  first. 
Before  the  building 
of  railroads  west  of 
the  Mississippi  it  was 
the  headquarters  and 
point  of  departure  for 
all  the  wagon-trains, 
which  then  carried  on 
the  trade  of  the  north 
Territories.  In  fact, 
our  route  down  into 
New  Mexico  was 
along  the  old  *  Santa 
Fe  Trail,'  or  wagon- 
road. 

"The  Spaniards 
came  up  here  from 
their  then  newly  con- 
quered vice-royalty 
of  Mexico,  as  early 
as  the  middle  of  the 
sixteenth  century. 
The  Indian  popula- 
tion—  of  which  the  present  Zunis  and  Pueblos  are  the  feeble  de- 
scendants—  then  numbered  hundreds  of  thousands. 

"  The  Spaniards  set  them  all  to  work  in  the  mines,  getting  out 
silver;  and  there  is  little  doubt  that  the  conquerors  secured  millions 
of  dollars  worth  of  this  metal.  These  early  miners  knew  nothing  of 
the  high  explosives;  they  transported  their  ores  on  the  backs  of  mules 
and  men,  hundreds  of  miles,  to  be  smelted  in  the  most  primitive  man- 
ner, yet  wealth  flowed  into  the  lap  of  Spain  in  such  profusion  as  to  as- 


SANTE   FE. 


26 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  TN  THE   TROPICS. 


tonish  all  Christendom.  At  present,  one  miner  can  do  as  much  work 
in  a  day  as  a  score  could  have  done  two  centuries  ago  in  the  same 
time. 

"  I  visited  an  old  turquoise  mine  near  Santa  Fe,  where  vast  num- 


ON    THE   LINE   OF    THE   RAILROAD. 

bers  of  these  then  precious  gems  were  worked  out.  This  old  mine  is 
in  what  the  Indians  called  Mount  Chalchuitl,  which  is  the  native  name 
for  turquoise. 

"The  rocks  which  form  Mount  Chalchuitl  are  distinguished  from 
those  of  the  surrounding  and  associated  ranges  by  their  white  color 
and  decomposed  appearance,  closely  resembling  tuff  and  kaolin,  and 
living  evidence  to  the  observer,  familiar  with  such  phenomena,  of  ex- 
tensive and  profound  alteration;  due  probably  to  the  escape  through 


THE   TURQUOISE  MINES. 


-1 


them  at  this  point  of  heated  vapor  of  water,  and  perhaps  of  other 
vapors  and  gases,  by  the  action  of  which  the  original  crystalline  struc- 
ture of  the  mass  has  been  completely  decomposed  or  metamorphosed, 
with  the  production  of 


new  chemical  com- 
pounds. Among  these 
the  turquoise  is  the 
most  conspicuous  and 
important.  In  this  yel- 
lowish-white and  kao- 
lin-like tufaceous  rock 
the  turquoise  is  found  in 
thin  veinlets  or  little 
balls  of  concentrations 
called  f  nuggets,'  cov- 
ered with  a  crust  of 
nearly  white  tuff,  which 
within  consists  gener- 
ally as  seen  on  a  cross 
fracture  of  the  less 
valued  varieties  of  this 
gem,  but  occasionally 
afford  fine  sky-blue 
stones  of  higher  value 
for  ornamental  pur- 
poses. Blue-green  stains  are  seen  in  every  direction  among  the 
decomposed  rocks;  but  the  turquoise  in  masses  of  any  commercial 
value  is  extremely  rare,  and  many  tons  of  the  rock  may  be  broken 
without  finding  a  single  stone  which  a  jeweller,  or  virtuoso,  would 


A   NATIVE. 


value  as  a  gem. 


"  One  is   deeply  impressed,  on   inspecting  this   locality,   with   the 
enormous  amount  of  labor  which  in  ancient  times  has  been  expended 


28 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE   TROPICS. 


here.  The  waste  of  debris  excavated  in  the  former  workings  cover 
an  era  of  at  least  twenty  acres.  On  the  slopes  and  sides  of  the  great 
piles  of  rubbish  are  growing  large  cedars  and  pines,  the  age  of  which 
— judging  from  their  size  and  slowness  of  growth  in  this  very  dry 
region  —  must  be  reckoned  by  centuries.  It  is  well  known  that  in 
1680  a  large  section  of  the  mountain  suddenly  fell  in  from  the  under- 
mining of  the  mass  \)y  the  Indian  miners,  killing  a  considerable  num- 
ber; and  it  was  this  accident  which  caused  the  great  rebellion  of  the 
Pueblos  and  the  expulsion  of  the  Spaniards  in  that  year,  two  cen- 
turies since. 

"  The  irregular  openings  in  the  mountain  called  r  wonder-caves ' 

are  the  works  of  the  old  miners. 
It  was  this  sharp  slope  of  the 
mountain  which  fell.  In  these 
chambers,  which  have  some  ex- 
tent of  ramification,  are  found 
abundantly  the  fragments  of 
ancient  pottery,  with  a  few 
entire  vessels,  some  of  them 
of  curious  workmanship,  orna- 
mented in  the  style  of  color  so 
familiar  in  the  Mexican  pottery. 
Associated  with  these  were 
numerous  stone  hammers,  some 
to  be  held  in  the  hand  and  others  swung  as  sledges,  fashioned 
with  wedge-shaped  edges  and  a  groove  for  a  handle.  A  hammer 
weighing  over  twenty  pounds  was  found,  to  which  the  wyth  was 
still  attached,  with  its  oak  handle  —  the  same  scrub  oak  which  is 
found  growing  abundantly  on  the  hillsides  —  now  quite  well  pre- 
served after  at  least  two  centuries  of  entombment  in  this  perfectly 
dry  rock. 

"The   stone   used   for  these  hammers  is  hard,  tough  hornblende. 


ANCIENT   MEXICAN    VASE. 


D 
O 


O 

« 
Id 
D 
a. 


o 


w 

H 

z 


THE    TURQUOISE  MINES. 


31 


With  these  rude  tools  and  without  iron  or  steel,  using  fire  in  place  of 
explosives,  these  patient  old  workers  managed  to  break  down  and 
remove  the  incredible  masses  of  these  tufaceous  rocks  which  form  the 
mounds  already  described. 

"  That  considerable  quantities  of  the  turquoise  were  obtained 
can  hardly  be  questioned.  We  know  that  the  ancient  Mexicans 
attached  great  value  to  this  ornamental  stone,  as  the  Indians  do  to 
this  day. 

"The  familiar  tale  of  the  gift  of  the  large  and  costly  turquoise  by 
Montezuma  to  Cortez  for  the  Spanish  crown,  as  narrated  by  Clavigero 
in  his  history  of  Mexico,  is  evidence  of  its  high  estimation. 

"  It  is  not  known  that  any  other  locality  in  America  has  furnished 
turquoise  in  any  considerable  quantity;  the  only  other  place  being 
that  Columbus  district  in  Nevada  discovered  by  Mr.  J.  E.  Clayton, 
and  is  not  yet  worked. 

"  Chemically  turquoise  is  a  hydrous  aluminum  phosphate.  Its  blue 
color  is  due  to  a  variable  quantity  of  copper  oxide,  derived  from  asso- 
ciated rocks.  It  is  found  that  the  Cerrillos  turquoise  contains  3.81 
per  cent,  of  this  metal,  formula  phosphoric  acid  32.26,  alumina  47.0, 
water  20.5." 

"  For  your  incidents  and  those  facts  which  you  have  taken  pains  to 
make  exact  and  scientific,  we  are  greatly  obliged,  Stein,"  said  Harold. 
"And  now  Karzy,  what  have  you  seen  or  heard,  of  interest?" 

"I  don't  know  that  it  will  at  all  interest  you;  but  I  have  heard  and 
written  out,  at  some  length,  the  story  of  a  New-Mexican  pioneer  who 
seems  to  have  been  a  rather  remarkable  man,  and  whose  fate  was  a  sad 
one.     But  as  I  said,  I  fear  you  will  find  it  but  tiresome." 

"Well,  the  proof  of  the  pudding  is  in  the  eating,"  observed  Moses. 
"  Go  ahead  with  your  little  story.  Anything  historic  should  be  of 
some  value.  " 

Whereupon  Karzy  read  an  account  of — 


32 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN   THE    TROPICS. 


THE    STORMING    OF    TURLEY'S    MILL. 

The  stirring  and  often  sanguinary  annals  of  New  Mexico,  in  her  earlier  days, 
contain  nothing  more  thrilling,  nor  more  apt  to  inspire  pity  and  indignation,  than 
the  fate  of  one  of  her  first  American  settlers,  named  Turley. 

Turley  settled  in  the  Territory  as  early  as  1837.  He  made  his  home  not 
very  far  from  Santa  Fe,  on  a  small  river  known  as  the  Arroyo  Hondo  ;  and  here, 


A    MEXICAN    CART. 


within  a  few  years,  he  had  by  far  the  most  flourishing  rancho  in  the  whole  Taos 
district. 

Herds  of  cattle,  goats  and  sheep  fed  on  the  slopes  of  the  Sierra.  Innumer- 
able hogs  swarmed  in  his  corrals  ;  while  broad,  enclosed  fields  produced  great 
crops  of  corn  and  wheat. 

With  true  Yankee  enterprise,  Turley  built  a  heavy  dam  on  the  Hondo,  which 
gave  him  water-power  for  a  large  grist-mill,  the  only  one  in  that  section.  In  so 
remote  a  country  everything  had  to  be  home-made,  and  Turley  seems  to  have 
been  a  man  of  boundless  ingenuity.      He  contrived  looms  and  spinning-wheels  as 


STREET   SCENE   IN   TAOS. 


STREET  SCENE  IN  TAOS.  ,e 

well  as  mill-stones.  In  fact,  his  rancho  contained  within  its  corrals  all  the  in- 
dustries of  a  town.  All  the  things  necessary  to  comfortable  civilized  life  were 
made  there,  and  made  in  profusion. 

His  wife  was  a  Mexican  ;  and  the  Americans  in  his  employ  had,  many  of 
them,  also  married  Mexican  wives.  Rosy  children,  uniting  the  fair  com- 
plexions of  the  Anglo-Saxon  with  the  darker  tint  of  their  Mexican  mothers, 
played  along  the  Hondo,  making  its  banks  echo  to  their  juvenile  merriment. 

Many  Mexicans  and  Pueblo  Indians  worked  for  Turley,  and  were  always  so 
well  fed  and  well  paid,  that  a  contest  often  arose  among  them  for  a  chance  to 
hire  at  the  grand  rancho  del  Americano. 

Turley  is  still  further  mentioned  as  being  one  of  the  most  jolly,  good- 
natured  fellows  in  existence  ;  one  of  those  big-hearted  men  who  endear  them- 
selves to  all  about  them,  —  hearty,  bluff,  manly  souls,  yet  with  the  tender  hearts 
of  women. 

His  kindness  and  generosity  were  unlimited.  No  hungry  Mexican  or  Co- 
manche Indian  (even  when  at  war)  was  ever  turned  away  from  Turley's.  He  fed 
all-  alike,  and  treated  every  man  who  came  to  him,  whether  savage  or  civilized, 
as  a  brother.  If  a  wanderer  could  but  make  his  way  to  Arroyo  Hondo  he  was 
sure  of  welcome  and  aid. 

Such  was  Turley  when  the  political  difficulties  between  Texas  and  Mexico, 
which  finally  terminated  in  the  Mexican  war,  broke  out.  All  the  American 
settlers  of  New  Mexico  were  in  jeopardy  as  to  their  lives  and  property.  Turley, 
however,  took  no  precautions,  believing  that  the  service  he  had  rendered  the 
people  would  be  a  sufficient  safeguard,  and  deeming  himself,  indeed,  a  citizen  of 
the  country. 

One  morning  in  December,  that  year,  a  man  named  Otterbees,  in  Turley's 
employ,  who  had  been  sent  to  Santa  Fe  a  few  days  before,  suddenly  made  his 
appearance  at  the  gate  of  the  corral,  and  in  great  alarm  announced  that  the 
Mexicans  and  Pueblo  Indians  had  risen  and  massacred  Governor  Bent  and  all 
the  other  Americans  in  the  place. 

"  And  they  are  on  their  way  here  this  very  moment !  "  concluded  Otterbees. 
"  Fly  for  your  lives  !  " 

"Fly  !  "  exclaimed  Turley,  contemptuously.  "  I'm  a  citizen  of  New  Mexico. 
I've  lived  by  its  laws,  and  treated  every  man  in  it  as  if  he  were  my  own  brother. 
They  won't  hurt  me." 

"  You  don't  know  them  '  Greasers'  yet !  "  cried  Otterbees.  "But  you  soon 
will !  "  he  added,  and  spurring  his  horse  galloped  off. 

But  Turley  would  not  believe  in  the  danger ;  or  if  danger  there  were,  he  was 
resolved  to  stand  by  his  property. 


36 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE   TROPICS. 


There  were  at  that  time  nine  Americans  at  the  mill,  —  pioneers  and  hunters, 
—  all  dead  shots.     They  closed  the  gates  of  the  corral  and  prepared  their  arms. 

None  too  quickly  !  For  within  less  than  two  hours  an  uproar  of  wild  shouts 
was  heard,  and  immediately  several  hundred  Mexicans  and  Indians  made  their 
appearance  in  the  road,  armed  with  guns,  lances,  bows  and  arrows.  Among 
them  were  several  Mexican  officers. 

Advancing  to  the  gate,  they  shouted  for  Turley,  who  at  once  stepped  forth 
and  asked  what  was  wanted. 

"Give  up  the  rancho  and  all  the  Americans  in  it,"  said  an  interpreter. 
"  Your  own  life  shall  be  spared,  but  every  other  American  in  Taos  dies  to-day." 


PUEBLO   OF    TAOS. 


"  My  own  life  !  "  shouted  Turley  in  great  anger.  "  Do  you  think  I  would 
give  up  my  countrymen  to  have  their  throats  cut?"  Never!  Do  your  worst ; 
I'll  fight  you  with  my  last  breath  !  " 

Then  was  seen  the  full  extent  of  Mexican  ingratitude.  "  Maten  los  Tcja?ios! 
Maten  los  burros  !  —  Kill  the  Texans  !     Kill  the  jackasses  !"  was  the  cry. 

The  mill  and  other  enclosed  buildings  lay  at  the  foot  of  a  gradual  slope  of  the 


TURLETS  MILL. 


37 


Sierra,  which  was  covered  with  cedar  scrub.  In  front,  about  twenty  five  yards 
below  the  corral,  ran  the  Hondo.  The  banks  were  steep  and  broken.  In  the 
rear  was  some  garden  ground,  enclosed  by  lower  fences.  In  this  plat  a  wicket 
gate  opened  from  the  main  corral. 

The  crowd  of  Indians  and  Mexicans  surrounded  the  place  on  all  sides,  and 
keeping  in  cover  of  the  cedar  and  broken  ground  opened  a  brisk  fire  of  bullets 
and  arrows  whenever  any  one  within  the  corral  showed  himself. 

But  the  defenders,  meantime,  were  not  idle.  If  an  Indian  or  a  Mexican  ex- 
posed himself  in  the  scrub  there  whistled  a  ball  from  an  unerring  rifle,  and 
within  the  first  hour  numbers  of  the  attacking  party  were  shot  down.  The 
windows  of  the  mill  and  still-house  were  blocked  with  wheat  in  bags,  leaving 
only  loop-holes  through  which  to  fire.  The  stock  of  ammunition,  however,  was 
not  large,  there  being  but  about  sixty  shots  for  each  man. 

The  afternoon  passed  in  this  way  and  darkness  set  in.  All  night  the  nine 
Americans  stood  at  their  posts,  watching  every  manoeuvre  of  their  enemies  with 
grim  determination.  Firing  went  on  by  spells  whenever  one  party  caught  sight 
of  the  other.  Fresh  props  were  set  at  the  gates,  and  every  window  and  door 
was  barricaded  still  more  strongly.  Turley  was  everywhere,  and  his  constant 
word  was,  "  Cheer  up,  men  !     We  may  beat  'em  off  yet !  " 

In  the  morning  it  was  found  that  the  Mexicans  had  effected  a  lodgment  in 
the  horse-sheds,  which  stood  a  little  apart  from  the  other  buildings,  but  one  end 
of  which  adjoined  the  side  of  the  mill.  Protected  by  the  shed,  they  were  striv- 
ing to  break  a  hole  through  the  wall  of  the  mill. 

But  the  great  strength  and  thickness  of  the  adobes  and  logs  of  which  it  was 
composed  resisted  their  efforts  Completely.  At  length,  finding  their  position  in 
the  shed  of  no  use  to  them,  they  seemed  anxious  to  get  out  of  it. 

To  get  out,  now  that  it  was  light,  however,  they  were  obliged  to  cross  an 
open  space  of  a  few  yards,  to  gain  cover  of  an  angle  of  the  corral  fence.  Two  or 
three  darted  across  unhurt.  Then,  the  attention  of  the  defenders  being  called 
to  their  ruse,  a  man  named  Albert  covered  the  spot  with  his  rifle  ;  and  the  next 
one  who  started  to  run  across  was  shot  on  the  instant,  and  fell  dead  in  the 
centre  of  the  open  space. 

It  chanced  to  be  a  Pueblo  chief,  and  immediately  one  of  his  followers  dashed 
out  and  attempted  to  drag  the  body  away.  Again  Albert's  rifle  poured  forth  its 
deadly  contents  on  the  instant,  and  the  Indian,  struck  to  the  heart,  fell  upon 
the  body  of  his  expiring  chief. 

Nothing  daunted,  however,  another  rushed  out,  and  still  another ;  but  both 
fell,  mortally  wounded,  under  the  unerring  aim  of  the  pioneers. 

After  a  pause  of  a  few  moments,  three  Indians  darted  out  together,  and 


3S 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN   THE    TROPICS. 


seizing  their  chief  by  the  arms  and  head,  had  lifted  the  body  off  the  ground, 
when  three  puffs  of  smoke  blew  from  the  barricaded  windows  of  the  mill,  fol- 
lowed by  the  loud  cracks  of  as  many  rifles.  The  three  daring  Pueblos  leaped 
wildly  into  the  air,  and  fell  upon  the  ghastly  heap  which  already  encumbered 
the  little  open  plat. 

Up  to  this  time  the  defenders  had  suffered  no  loss.  As  if  maddened  bv  this 
exhibition  of  marksmanship,  both  Indians  and  Mexicans  raised  a  yell,  and  rush- 
ing forth  from  their  coverts,  ran  up  close  to  the  mill,  all  firing  at  once. 

Eight  or  nine  of  them  were  shot ;  but  two  of  the  Americans  were  mortally 
wounded  at  the  same  instant.  One  died  in  a  few  minutes  ;  but  the  other,  who 
was  shot  through  the  lower  part  of  the  body,  suffered  great  agony. 

They  bore  him  into  the  still-house  and  laid  in  a  large  bin  of  wheat,  that 
being  the  softest  couch  to  be  found.  All  day  he  lay  there,  moaning  piteously ; 
for  the  remaining  seven  did  not  dare  to  leave  their  posts  to  attend  him. 

About  midday  the  attack  was  renewed  more  fiercely  than  before,  the  Indians 
having  grown  furious  from  so  many  baffled  attempts,  and  the  loss  of  so  many  of 
their  warriors.  The  little  garrison  withstood  it  bravely,  never  wasting  a  shot, 
but  firing  coolly  and  only  when  a  fair  mark  was  presented  to  their  certain  aim. 

Not  more  than  ten  shots  now  remained  to  them,  however ;  and  to  add  to  the 
danger  of  their  situation  the  Indians  succeeded  in  firing  the  roof  of  the  mill 
with  blazing  arrows.  It  flamed  up  fiercely  and  bade  fair  to  involve  the  whole 
rancho  in  destruction. 

But  at  this  juncture  Turley  hoisted  the  gates  of  the  sluice,  letting  water  into 
the  basement,  and  with  the  aid  of  buckets  they  partially  extinguished  the  fire. 
Coals  and  blazing  brands  fell  about  them,  however ;  and  fire  was  constantly 
breaking  out  from  this  cause  in  the  lower  part  of  the  mill,  which  was  only  put 
out  by  vigorous  efforts. 

While  thus  employed  the  assailants  battered  a  gap  in  the  corral,  and  in 
their  blind  fury  shot  and  speared  the  hogs  and  cattle,  which  had  been  shut  up 
since  the  day  before.  A  few  volleys  drove  them  back  again  ;  but  these  reduced 
the  ammunition  of  the  Americans  to  three  or  four  rounds. 

A  successful  defence  through  another  night  being  now  hopeless,  they  held 
council,  and  agreed  that  as  soon  as  darkness  fell,  each  man  should  attempt  to 
cut  his  way  out  as  best  he  could  and  take  to  the  Sierra  as  a  last  chance. 

Acting  on  this  plan,  Albert  and  another  man,  just  at  dusk,  dashed  out  at  the 
wicket-gate  that  opened  into  the  garden,  firing  their  rifles  full  in  the  faces  of  the 
Mexicans.  In  the  confusion  Albert  threw  himself  under  the  log  fence,  among 
high  weeds.  While  lying  there  unobserved  he  saw  his  comrade  shot  down  but 
a  few  steps  off. 


< 

0 
Z 

a 

u 
< 

S 

< 

w 
s 


TURLEY' S  MILL.  ,x 

Crouching  motionless  under  the  fence  till  the  darkness  had  deepened,  Albert 
was  able  to  creep  unnoticed  into  the  cedar  scrub,  and  thus  he  gained  the  Sierra. 
Two  days  later  he  reached  the  American  settlement  on  the  Greenhorn,  nearly 
dead  with  thirst  and  fatigue. 

Turley  himself  made  his  way  out  through  the  sluice  of  the  mill,  and  keeping 
under  water  all  but  his  head,  went  some  distance  up  the  Hondo.  The  next 
morning,  as  he  was  following  a  trail  some  miles  to  the  northward,  he  met  a 
mounted  Mexican  whom  he  had  often  befriended,  named  Lorando.  This  man 
bad  but  recently  spent  a  fortnight  at  the  mill  on  a  visit  to  Turley. 

Thinking  he  might  confide  in  the  Mexican,  Turley  told  what  had  occurred. 
"  You  see  what  a  strait  I'm  in,  Lorando,"  said  he.  "  Let  me  have  your  horse. 
Here  is  my  gold  watch.     I'll  swap  with  you." 

With  a  perfidy  worthy  of  Judas,  Lorando  professed  friendship,  but  refused  to 
give  Turley  the  horse,  on  the  plea  that  he  might  be  found  out  by  so  doing.  But 
he  told  Turley  to  hide  during  the  day  at  a  deserted  rancho  near  by,  and  that  the 
following  night  he  would  come  to  him  with  food  and  a  mule. 

This  Turley  was  induced  to  do,  for  he  supposed  that  he  had  bound  Lorando 
to  him  by  so  many  benefits  that  he  could  not  find  it  in  his  heart  to  doubt  him. 

Lorando  rode  straight  to  the  mill,  which  the  Mexicans  were  now  plundering, 
and  informed  them  of  Turley's  whereabouts. 

As  soon  as  night  came  thirty  of  the  inhuman  wretches,  with  Lorando  at 
their  head,  rode  to  the  place  where  Turley  was  concealed.  Stationing  the  gang 
about  the  yard,  Lorando  went  to  the  door  and  called  to  the  American.  On  the 
unfortunate  man's  coming  out,  they  fired  on  him  and  he  fell,  stricken  with  a 
score  of  balls. 

Thus  perished  Turley,  —  a  man  worthy  of  a  better  fate. 

Of  the  four  other  brave  defenders  of  the  mill,  only  two  escaped,  and  they, 
too,  almost  by  a  miracle,  later  in  the  evening,  and  made  their  way  northward. 

"  Well  told,  Karzy,  but  just  a  little  too  long,"  said  Harold. 

"  So  I  was  afraid,"  replied  Karzy  penitently.  "  Now,  Mr.  Presi- 
dent, as  a  specimen  of  proper  brevity,  please  give  us  one  of  your 
experience.     Make  it  just  as  short  as  —  it  ought  to  be." 

"  The  sarcasm  is  deserved,  Karzy,"  said  Harold  good  humoredly. 
"And  it  is  all  the  sharper  that  I  have  been  so  indolent  as  to  see  but 
little  worth  telling.  In  fact,  the  most  interesting  thing  I  have  seen 
since  starting  on  this  trip  was  in  a  lady's  parlor  up  in  Kansas." 


a2  THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN   THE    TROPICS. 

"In  a  lady's  parlor!"  exclaimed  Moses.  "That  sounds  romantic. 
But  I  fear  it  is  only  a  repetition  of  some  of  those  experiences  which 
brother  Harold  had  while  on  our  bycicle  tour  down  East." 

"  No,  brother  Moses,  quite  another  thing,  I  assure  you.  Listen, 
please.  It  is  of  interest  as  being  one  of  the  beginnings  of  a  great 
future  industry.  As  I  came  through  Kansas,  I  left  the  railway  at 
Lawrence  and  took  a  buggy  ride  down  into  the  country,  to  look  up 
a  cousin  of  mine  who  has  located  in  that  quarter.  On  my  way  I  got 
lost  and  had  to  beg  a  dinner  at  a  farm-house  away  out  on  one  of  those 
boundless  expanses  which  they  call  a  county.  There  was  but  a  single 
lad}' — I  mean  one  lady  —  at  the  house.  She  entertained  me  very 
kindly,  however,  and  after  dinner  and  some  current  conversation, 
asked  me  if  I  would  not  like  to  take  a  look  into  her  parlor.  I  thought 
that  was  sort  of  funny,  but  of  course  I  said  *  yes  '  and  f  delighted  I'm 
sure.' 

K  She  opened  the  door,  and,  expecting  to  see  the  usually  monoto- 
nous stuffed  furniture,  the  bric-a-brac,  the  cabinet  organ,  the  stereop- 
ticon,  the  photograph  album,  and  the  autograph  album,  for  which  I 
was  already  inwardly  conning  an  appropriate  sentiment  from  Tenny- 
son, I  locked  in. 

"  Now  if  there  is  one  thing  more  than  another  in  which  American 
ladies  show  an  utter  lack  of  originality  it  is  in  their  parlors.  All  are 
after  one  model.  If  ever  anywhere  you  find  one  differing  from  the 
standard,  it  is  from  the  shape  of  the  house  or  some  other  circumstance 
over  which  the  lady  herself  had  no  control,  and  which  you  are  sure  to 
find  her  lamenting  from  a  full  heart. 

"Judge  of  my  surprise,  then,  to  see  three  long  tables  covered  with 
fresh  green  leaves,  which  somehow  seemed  all  in  motion!  Even  the 
window  seats  and  the  chairs  were  laden  with  green  leaves  and  sprays, 
and  as  to  the  floor,  it  was  covered  with  bare  twigs.  To  my  look  of 
abject  astonishment  the  lady  laughed  merrily.  5  How  do  you  like  my 
furniture?'  she  said. 


Q 
W 

OS 

o 

H 
en 

W 
Pi 

o 

CQ 
hi 
P 


A   KANSAS  PARLOR.  ,r 

"Something  still  more  odd  —  for  a  parlor  —  had  arrested  my  atten- 
tion. It  was  a  great  green  worm,  somewhat  like  a  maple-worm. 
It  lay  among  the  green  leaves  and  was  feeding  on  them.  There  were 
scores,  hundreds,  thousands  of  these  great  worms! 

"  '  What  are  these,  madam  ?  '  I  asked. 

"'My  silkworms,'  she  said. 

"'And  this  foliage?' 
'Mulberry  leaves  from  these  hedges  round  my  garden.     I  bring 
in  bushels  of  them  every  day.     See  the  bare  stems  on  the  floor! ' 

"  I  began  to  comprehend. 
'  Yes,'  continued  the  lad)',  '  I  started  two  years  ago.  George  — 
that's  my  husband  —  laughed  at  me  at  first.  He  works  hard;  but 
unless  it  is  a  better  year  than  last,  I  shall  clear  more  off  my  cocoons 
than  he  will  oft"  his  farm  corn.  I  get  seventy  cents  a  pound  for  the 
cocoons.  What 's  the  good  of  a  parlor  shut  up  from  one  week's  end 
to  another!'  she  exclaimed.  'I  have  little  time  to  sit  in  one.  So 
I've  decorated  mine  with  mulberry  leaves  I  and  I  have  my  attic  and 
spare  chamber. all  full  of  worms  too.  It  is  really  pretty  work  to  feed 
them.' 

"'Well,  this  is,  indeed,  a  new  departure,'  I  said,  —  'an  original 
idea? ' 

r'No,  I  got  it  from  the  Mennonites,  those  Russian  refugees  who 
came  to  Kansas  eight  or  ten  years  ago.  They  brought  silk  culture 
here,  and  imported  the  mulberry  shrubs  from  Southern  Russia. 
Their  women  reel  the  silk  off  the  cocoon,  but  that  takes  a  great  deal 
of  skill  and  practice.     I  prefer  to  sell  my  cocoons  to  the  factory  folks.' 

"  Surely,  I  thought,  here  is  a  hint  for  many  a  lady  with  a  meagre 
family  purse  and  a  shut-up  parlor.  For  the  business  requires  little  or 
no  capital  for  starting." 

"  And  now,  Mr.  Burleigh,  what  adventures  have  you  met  with  of 
late?" 


46 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE    TROPICS. 


"No  adventures,*'  said  Wash.  "I  met  an  old  schoolmate,  how- 
ever, at  Las  Vegas." 

"  Well,  that  was  pleasant,  no  doubt." 

"'  Yes,  it  does  seem  good  to  meet  an  old  chum.  John  Coombs  and 
I  were  at  the  same  school,  as  boys,  and  were  at  one  time  room-mates. 
I  ran  plump  against  him  at  the  Plaza  Hotel,  but  had  not  seen  him  for 
six  years.  He  is  located  in  Texas.  "  I'm  working  a  mine  over 
there,'  he  said.     '  A  mine!  '  I  replied.     "Gold  or  silver?' 

"  '  Neither/ 

"  "  What,  —  copper  ?  '  I  asked. 

"'No.' 

"'Oh,  coal,  then.' 

"'Wrong  again;  and  it  isn't  iron,  nor  quicksilver,  nor  tin,  nor 
plumbago,"  said  he. 

"Some  metaphorical  mine,  I    suppose;  some  bonanza  in  stocks, 
some  horse  ranch,  some  ostrich  farm,'  I  said. 

'"No,  no;  a  real  bona-fide  mine.  I'm  getting  out  five  tons  of  ore 
every  day.     Good  ore,  too;  runs  fifty  dollars  to  the  ton." 

"Of  course  I  grew  curious,  hearing  that.  A  fellow  cannot  travel 
here  in  New  Mexico  and  Colorado  without  getting  a  touch  of  the 
mining  fever.  You  know  how  it  is  yourself.  This  mining  malaria  is 
in  the  air  out  here.  But  not  another  word  about  his  mine  could  I  get 
out  of  John.  'Come  over  to  see  me,'  said  he.  '  It 's  worth  your 
while,  really.'  That  was  all  he  would  say;  he  was  only  there  for  a 
few  hours. 

"I  kept  thinking  about  it  all  that  evening;  and  next  morning  I  looked 
up  the  trains  and  found  that  I  could  get  round  in  three  days.  So  I  sent 
John  a  telegram  and  set  oft"  into  Texas;  there  's  where  I've  been. 

"  At  D (the  station  where  John   had  told  me   to  get  off"  if  I 

came)  I  found  him  waiting  for  me  with  a  wagon  and  two  mules, 
and  a  ride  of  ten  or  twelve  miles  across  the  rolling  prairie  up  into  the 
Llnno  estacado  brought  us  tn  his   place.      It  was   dark   by  the  time 


MINING    IN    THE   SOUTHWEST. 


A    DROLL  MINE. 


49 


we  arrived;  but  I  saw  what  looked  to  be  a  derrick  and  windlass 
for  hoisting-  ore  out  of  a  shaft,  also  two  or  three  sheds  full  of  barrels 
and  boxes. 

"John  was  keeping  bachelor's  hall,  with  a  Chinaman  to  cook  for 
him,  in  a  small  board  cottage  near  by.  We  had  a  very  nice  dinner 
and  talked  of  old  times  at  school  till  nine  or  ten  o'clock.  By  that 
time,  feeling  pretty  sleepy,  I  was  ready  to  turn  in.  As  yet  John  had 
said  nothing  of  his  mine.  I  concluded  that  he  was  keeping  it  all  till 
the  next  day.  My  bunk  was  a  comfortable  one;  and  I  slept  soundly 
till  about  five  o'clock  the  next  morning,  when  I  was  awakened  by  a 
singular  roaring  noise.  At  first  I  thought  that  it  was  the  wind  —  that 
a  '  norther'  had  swept  down  upon  us.  But  it  sounded  too  steady  for 
the  wind.     I  lay  and  listened  to  it  for  some  moments. 

"John  was  up,  moving  about  at  the  further  end  of  the  room.  At 
length  I  called  to  him.  'Whatever  is  that  noise?'  I  said.  'Is  the 
chimney  afire  ? ' 

"  Oh,  no,'  said  he.  '  That's  my  mine.  It  is  sticking  in  now.  At 
night  from  five  to  seven  it  blows  off.  From  daybreak  till  after  sun- 
rise it  sucks  in.' 

" '  You  must  have  a  queer  kind  of  engine,'  I  remarked. 

"'Oh,  it's  not  the  engine  at  all.     It's  the  mine.' 

" '  Look  here,  John,  have  n't  you  given  me  taffy  enough  about  this 
mine?'  I  observed. 

" '  No  taffy  at  all,'  protested  my  friend.  '  Come  out  and  see  it 
suck  in.' 

"  I  hastily  dressed  and  followed  him  forth.  The  moment  we 
opened  the  door  and  stepped  out,  the  roaring  noise  was  increased 
tenfold.  It  was  still  dark.  The  stars  shone ;  the  morning  star  had  risen 
golden  bright;  while  over  the  post  oaks,  off  to  the  west,  a  segment  of 
pale  old  moon  hung  like  a  whitish  feather.  But  that  noise!  the  whole 
air  seemed  to  whirr  to  it,  —  to  flutter  deafeningly  as  when  a  train 
stops  and  the  engine  is  very  hot  after  a  long  run ;  you  know  what  a 


5° 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE    TROPICS. 


strange  detonating  sort  of  noise  the  steam  will  make.  This  made  me 
think  of  it.  And  all  out  to  the  left  of  the  windlass  frame  there 
seemed  to  be  a  dense  black  cloud,  which  I  took  to  be  smoke,  rising  to 
the  very  zenith! 

"John  led  the  way  out  past  the  shed,  for  a  hundred  metres  or  more, 

till  we  came  to  the  edge  of  a  chasm, 
or  canon,  in  the  limestone  '  strata, 
several  hundred  feet  wide  and  of 
unknown  depth.  Down  into  this 
chasm,  at  our  very  feet,  the  vast, 
black  cloud,  roaring,  whizzing,  was 
descending  —  not  rising  —  rushing 
downward  like  water  into  the  vor- 
tex of  a  tunnel,  with  a  maelstrom- 
like force  and  velocity  which  was 
absolutely  terrific!  It  gave  me  the 
same  feeling,  the  same  sense  of 
power,  as  when  5rears 


ago    I    first    stood    at 


BATS    GOING    OUT. 


the  foot  of  Niagara  and  looked  up  at  the  plunging  torrents  of  green 
water. 


BATS.  rI 

K  r  For  heaven's  sake,  John,  what  is  this  thing?  '  I  shouted. 

"c Why,  bats! — bats!  Don't  you  see  them!  All  down  under 
here  is  a  bat-cave  —  acres  and  acres  of  it.  This  cave  is  my  mine. 
It's  sucking  in,  now.  The  bats  are  going  to  roost.  It's  the  guano, 
bat-guano,  that  I'm  getting  out.  The  floor  of  the  cave  is  bedded  with 
it.  In  some  places  it  is  ten  feet  deep,  solid  guano,  and  there  's  acres 
and  acres  of  it.     I've  never  half  explored  the  cave  yet.' 

"c  And  these  are  all  bats!'  I  exclaimed. 

"'All  bats.  There  are  millions  of  them.  They  go  out  of  the  cave 
at  nightfall  in  just  such  a  stream,  to  catch  flies,  gnats,  mosquitoes, 
what  not  in  the  way  of  insects,  worms,  and  grubs,  and  come  back  at 
daybreak,  as  you  see.  Always  just  so,  except  in  case  of  a  heavy 
storm,  and  two  or  three  weeks  of  the  coldest  winter  weather,  when 
they  seem  to  hibernate  and  hang  dormant  from  the  roof  of  the  cave.' 

K  It  had  grown  a  little  lighter,  and  I  saw  now  that  the  roaring,  whir- 
ring cloud  was  indeed  composed  of  bats.  Above  the  noise  of  their 
wings  I  could  now  distinguish  a  multitudinous,  mournful  squeaking. 
There  were  thousands,  yes,  millions  of  them;  and  the  velocity  with 
which  they  shot  down  into  the  chasm  from  high  up  in  the  sky  was 
absolutely  appalling. 

"  How  they  managed  to  turn  at  the  bottom  of  the  chasm  and  dart 
laterally  into  the  mouth  of  their  cavern,  I  cannot  understand.  To 
look  up  into  the  cloud  was  like  looking  up  into  a  dense,  driving  snow- 
storm. Overhead  the  air  was  full  of  them;  and  they  came  down  each 
with  a  sharp  zerp-zerfil  It  was  wonderful,  gentlemen,  —  about  the 
most  wonderful  thing  I  ever  witnessed.  And  that  torrent  of  bats  con- 
tinued to  whizz  down  like  that  for  more  than  two  hours  steadily! 

"  It  was  only  at  sunrise  that  the  cloud  thinned  off;  and  even  then 
detached  and  scattered  bands  of  them  kept  coming  at  intervals,  till 
half  past  seven  or  eight  o'clock. 

"  After  breakfast  we  put  on  some  old  oilcloth  suits,  and  taking  each 
a  lantern,  went  down  by  a  circuitous  path  into  the  chasm,  and  came 


52 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE    TROPICS. 


along  to  the  mouth  of  the  cave  —  a  large,  irregular  orifice  eight  or  ten 
feet  in  height,  by  thirty  or  forty  in  width,  opening  back  into  darkness, 
over  great  black  bowlders.  Numbers  of  bats  were  still  flitting:  about; 
but  it  was  not  till  we  had  scrambled  into  the  cave  fifty  or  sixty  feet 
that  we  began  to  see  them  hanging  in  patches  to  the  rocks  overhead. 
The  squealing  was  here  incessant;  and  on  thrusting  up  a  lantern, 
hundreds  of  them  would  go  flapping  and  scurrying  along.  Each  bat 
hung  to  the  roof  by  his  claws,  head  downward.  The  further  we  went 
back  into  the  cave,  the  denser  grew  the  patches  of  bats,  till  at  length 
the  rocks  above  were  seen  to  be  covered  with  one  continuous  coat  of 
them,  often  two  or  three  thick;  and  in  places  they  hung  in  festoons. 

"  Meantime  the  dropping  of  their  ordure  was  incessant  and  sounded 
like  rain.  I  saw,  too,  that  the  bottom  of  the  cavern  was  alive  with 
beetles  and  grubs,  which  seemed  to  be  pulverizing  the  guano,  which 
glistened  in  the  light  as  if  full  of  bits  of  mica.  My  friend  said  that 
this  appearance  was  owing  to  the  undigested  wings  of  the  insects  upon 
which  the  bats  feed.  The  entire  place  had  a  very  strong  odor  of 
ammonia,  with  which  the  guano  is  powerfully  impregnated  —  hence  its 
value  as  a  fertilizer.  For  it  is  for  shipment  as  a  fertilizer  for  worn-out 
soils  that  my  friend  is  getting  out  the  guano.  At  present  there  is  a 
good  market  for  it. 

w  Counting  four  hundred  bats  to  the  square  }'ard  —  a  low  estimate  — 
we  reckoned  that  there  were  twenty  millions  of  bats  in  those  parts  of 
the  cave  which  we  explored  that  day! 

"  No  doubt  that  the  bats  have  made  this  and  scores  of  other  similar 
caves  which  are  known  to  exist  in  this  section  their  habitat  for  ages. 
The  great  deposits  of  guano  would  seem  to  indicate  as  much. 

"  'Do  they  breed  here?  '  I  asked. 

"  For  answer,  John  held  up  his  lantern  to  a  little  cranny  in  the  pitted, 
rough  limestone  roof;  and  I  saw,  back  in  a  little  hole,  a  most  curious 
sight, —  a  female  bat  suckling  four  little  pinkish-colored  young, 
seemingly  but  a  few  days  old.  For  as  you  know,  the  bat  is  a  kind 
of  winged  mouse  and  brings  forth  its  young  as  do  mice. 


THE  MINE.  r, 

"  Every  crack  and  hole  is  alive  with  just  such  pigmy  families,"  my 
friend  said. 

I  remained  till  night,  and  saw  the  innumerable  troop  depart  on 
their  nocturnal  hunt  after  insects.  Shortly  after  five  o'clock  they  be- 
gan to  issue  forth,  in  little  squads  at  first,  but  soon  with  the  same 
torrent-like  rush  with  which  I  had  beheld  them  come  in  at  dawn; 
with  this  difference,  however,  in  the  morning  they  had  seemed  to 
return  from  a  great  height  and  to  drop,  or  rather  shoot  down,  to  the 
mouth  of  their  cave.  But  at  eventide  they  rise  out  of  the  chasm  and 
move  off  in  a  solid  column  close  to  the  surface  of  the  prairie.  As  far 
as  I  could  see,  they  kept  in  this  dense  array;  and  my  friend  tells  me 
that  on  several  occasions  when  out  in  the  country  he  has  met  this 
dusky  column,  moving  swiftly  on,  yet  still  keeping  together,  at  a  dis- 
tance of  seven  or  eight  miles  from  the  cave. 

How  many  billions  of  flies,  gnats,  and  mosquitoes  they  snap  up 
during  a  night  I  may  safely  leave  to  your  conjecture,  gentlemen.  To 
me  it  was  one  of  the  most  striking  and  interesting  phases  of  animal 
life  which  I  have  ever  witnessed;  and  I  hope  some  naturalist  will  ere 
long  make  the  habits  of  one  of  these  innumerable  bat-swarms  a  matter 
of  careful  study. 

"  Oddly  enough,"  said  Mr.  Garland,  "  I  have  heard  a  bat  story, 
with  which  there  was  connected  an  Indian  adventure.  A  young 
man,  named  Gillespie,  up  at  Raton,  told  it.  As  to  the  bats,  I  thought 
the  story  an  exaggeration  at  first;  but  after  what  Mr.  Burleigh  has 
himself  seen,  I  see  no  reason  to  doubt  it.  This  man,  Gillespie,  said 
that  not  very  long  after  his  parents  moved  into  Texas  (they  came 
from  New  Jersey  in  1872,  I  think  he  stated)  he  and  his  brother  had  a 
very  narrow  escape  from  some  Indians.  But  I  will  try,  if  I  can,  to 
give  the  story  in  his  words:  — 

My  folks  (he  said)  had  located  in  the  northern  part  of  Kinney  County, 
very  near,  if  not  over,  the  line  in  "  the  Bexar  territory,"  as  it  is  called,  on  a 
branch  of  the  Nueces  River.     Further  south  the  branch  is  dry  toward  the  latter 


54 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE   TROPICS. 


part  of  summer  for  miles  and  miles  ;  but  there  are  springs  of  good  sweet  water 
up  here,  which  have  not  failed  as  yet. 

My  father  had  prospected  these  springs  while  out  with  a  land-locating  party 
the  previous  year  ;  and,  liking  the  place  pretty  well,  he  drove  up  a  hundred  and 
thirty  head  of  cattle  that  fall,  built  a  house  during  the  winter,  and  moved  in  the 
following  spring. 

There  is  a  good  growth  of  mesquite,  post-oak,  and  a  few  walnut  trees  about 
the  spring  heads.  Our  first  house  was  built  of  mesquite  logs,  and  the  cattle- 
pens  were  set  with  mesquite  and  oak  posts. 

The  timber  is  all  in  the  valley,  or  canon,  as  it  is  called,  of  the  branch  ;  the 
valley,  or  bottom,  varying  from  half  a  mile  to  a  mile  in  width.  Bluffs,  and,  in 
some  places,  cliffs,  a  hundred  feet  and  more,  wall  in  the  bottom  on  both  sides. 
Back  of  the  bluffs  is  the  high  plains  land. 

Through  the  spring  and  early  part  of  summer  the  cattle  are  pastured  up 
here,  where  the  feed  is  then  fresh.  But  later  in  the  season,  when  the  droughts 
set  in,  and  through  the  winter,  we  depend  on  the  bottom  down  in  the  canon, 
along  the  branch,  for  feed  and  shelter  for  the  stock  from  the  northers. 

One  afternoon,  near  the  last  of  June,  — we  had  moved  here  in  April,  —  my 
younger  brother,  Morris,  thirteen  years  old,  and  I  set  off  up  the  branch,  taking 
each  a  tin  bucket  to  gather  cherries  and  "  drool  plums."  The  plums  are  nearly 
as  large  as  pomegranates,  and  when  they  grow  in  fertile  spots  are  quite  well- 
flavored. 

From  two  or  three  miles  up  the  branch  there  is  a  considerable  stretch  along 
the  bottom  where  fires  had  run  ten  or  twelve  years  before.  Wild-cherry,  briars, 
and  plums  had  now  got  in  here ;  some  of  the  finest  wild  cherries  I  have  ever 
seen,  almost  as  large  as  cultivated  cherries,  in  fact,  very  dark  red,  and  not  at  all 
bitter  or  puckery. 

The  canon  up  there  was  narrower  than  down  where  the  springs  were  ;  and 
from  where  we  were  getting  the  cherries  it  was  not  more  than  ten  or  fifteen 
rods  to  the  foot  of  the  crumbling  sandstone  crags  which  on  that  side  enclosed 
the  little  interval. 

Flocks  of  pigeons,  and  sometimes  wild  turkeys,  came  into  the  bottom  at  this 
time  of  year,  and  I  had  brought  a  shot-gun  belonging  to  my  Uncle  Sidney.  I 
could  not  find  the  cap-box,  and  so  had  only  the  charge  in  the  gun,  which  was 
but  a  small  single-barrelled  piece. 

We  had  gathered  one  bucket  full  of  the  drool  plums,  and  had  the  other 
nearly  filled  with  cherries,  when  we  were  not  a  little  astonished  at  hearing  the 
plaintive  "  blart "  of  a  calf  a  little  way  off  up  the  canon;  at  least,  it  sounded 
exactly  like  that,  yet  all  the  cattle,  as  we  supposed,  were  four  or  five  miles  below 
and  on  the  prairie. 


GOING   TO    THE   TABLE   LANDS. 


A    SURPRISE. 


57 


"  It 's  one  of  our  little  bossies  strayed  away  from  the  old  cow  !  "  exclaimed 
Mot ;  and  upon  that  we  left  our  cherries  and  started  to  find  the  calf. 

We  went  some  little  distance  calling,  "Boss!  boss!  co-boss!"  But  the 
bush  clumps  and  great  clusters  of  dagger-grass  were  so  thick  there  that  it  was 
difficult  to  see  ahead  much.  At  length  Mot  went  out  close  to  the  crags,  while  I 
kept  along  by  the  branch  through  tall  raspberry  briars. 

We  had  not  been  separated  long,  however,  when  I  heard  the  same  plaintive 
"  baa-a-a-a! "  again,  out  near  where  Mot  was,  as  I  thought.  Upon  this  I  turned 
to  go  to  him,  but  had  hardly  taken  ten  steps  when  I  heard  him  give  a  loud 
screech  !  Then  another  and  another,  as  if  frantic  with  fright.  I  cocked  my 
shot-gun  and  ran  to  help  him,  for  I  thought  most  likely  he  was  frightened  by  a 
"rattler." 

In  a  moment  he  came  plump  against  me  round  a  great  bunch  of  cactuses, 
running  swiftly  and  pale  as  death.  Before  he  could  speak  an  old  Indian  in 
a  calico  shirt,  with  a  long  rope  halter  in  his  hand,  came  in  sight  in  full  chase 
after  him. 

That  was  the  kind  of  calf  we  had  heard  blart ! 

The  shot-gun  was  all  cocked,  and  without  a  second's  thought  I  fired  at  the 
Indian.  The  turkey-shot,  no  doubt,  hit  him,  for  he  stopped  short  and  dropped 
his  rope. 

Just  then  another  Indian,  a  young  fellow,  not  full  grown,  came  in  sight  from 
behind  a  clump  of  bushes.  He  had  a  gun.  Other  redskins  setup  a  yell  not  far 
off  when  they  heard  me  fire. 

The  instant  I  had  fired  I  turned  and  ran  after  Mot,  and  threw  the  shot-gun 
into  some  briar  bushes. 

We  struck  into  an  old  cattle-path,  through  the  thickets  along  the  foot  of  the 
crags,  and  ran  for  dear  life  for  eighty  or  a  hundred  rods,  when,  to  our  dismay,  we 
heard  the  Indians  racing  past  us  through  the  cherry  trees  off  a  few  rods  to  our 
right.     They  had  outrun  and  gone  past  us. 

With  this  we  turned  and  ran  back  the  other  way,  dreadfully  scared  and  out 
of  breath,  and  coming  presently  to  a  dark  hole  under  the  overhanging  rocks 
clambered  into  it  —  to  hide. 

In  our  flurry  and  fright  we  did  not  at  first  think  of  our  tracks  along  the  moist 
ground  at  the  foot  of  the  crags.  Then  it  came  into  my  mind  that  the  Indians 
would  see  them  and  certainly  find  us  ;  and  I  did  not  dare  to  leave  our  hiding- 
place  for  fear  they  might  already  have  returned  in  search  of  us. 

The  hole  into  which  we  had  crept  was  six  or  eight  feet  broad,  but  so  low  we 
had  been  obliged  to  bend  to  enter  it.  On  first  getting  in  amongst  the  damp, 
mossy  rocks,  we  could   not  see  anything   it  was  so  dark  ;   but   after  being   in 


5§ 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE    TROPICS. 


trfere  a  few  minutes,  I  began  dimly  to  discern  that  the  aperture  led  back  further, 
over  and  among  other  rocks.  So  we  clambered  back  —  as  our  eyes  became 
accustomed  to  the  gloom,  forty  or  fifty  feet,  where  the  air  was  very  chilly  and 
damp.  We  could  stand  up  here,  and  as  we  groped  back  still  further,  came 
where  we  could  not  touch  the  rocks  overhead. 

We  were  in  a  cave.  Our  feet  on  the  rocks  raised  strange  echoes ;  even  our 
whisperings  were  mysteriously  repeated  about  us.  I  thought,  too,  that  I  heard 
a  curious  hissing  and  faint  squeaks  like  mice. 

"  O-o-gh,  —  something  soft  flapped  in  my  face!  "  Mot  cried  out  ;  but  ere  we 
had  time  to  think  much  of  these  things  we  heard  the  Indians  outside.  First  a 
whoop  which  had  a  strange,  far-off  sound,  then  a  darkening  of  the  light  at  the 
mouth  of  the  cave,  and  a  scraping  noise  on  the  outer  rocks,  as  if  some  of  them 
were  crawling  in. 

They  had  found  our  hiding-place. 

For  some  minutes  we  heard  them  talking.  Then  the  hole  darkened  again. 
There  was  another  scraping  noise,  and  soon  one  of  the  savages  came  in  sight, 
crawling  over  the  great  bowlders  in  the  low  opening  of  the  cavern,  with  his  gun 
in  his  hand. 

I  felt  sure  he  could  not  see  us ;  but  we  moved  slowly  away  and  groped  along 
for  a  number  of  yards.  Coming  to  where  there  were  some  loose  stones  under 
foot,  I  took  a  good  large  one  in  each  hand  and  stood  still. 

The  Indian  came  crawling  in,  reaching  up  his  hands  this  side  and  that,  till  he 
came  where  the  passage  was  broader  and  higher.  Here  he  stood  upright,  and 
thrusting  out  his  gun  to  feel  his  way,  came  forward,  step  by  step. 

I  stood  still  till  he  had  come  within  thirty  feet  of  me,  and  then  I  threw  at 
him  with  all  my  might  one  of  my  big  stones. 

It  hit  him  full  in  the  chest,  fairly  knocking  him  off  his  feet  on  the  slippery 
rocks.  His  gun  flew  out  of  his  hand,  and  went  clattering  on  the  bowlders  ;  and 
the  way  that  redskin  scrabbled  up  and  went  out  over  the  rocks,  and  along  that 
hole,  was  far  from  slow,  I  promise  you  !  I  let  my  other  stone  fly  after  him. 
When  he  had  got  nearly  out,  he  gave  a  yell,  and  the  others  outside  yelled. 

We  did  not  see  or  hear  anything  more  of  them  for  some  minutes,  and  hoped 
they  had  concluded  not  to  attempt  to  enter  the  cave  again ;  but  they  were  not 
so  easily  thrown  off.  Before  a  long  time  had  passed  we  saw  one  of  them  crawl- 
ing into  the  mouth  of  the  cave,  with  a  torch  in  one  hand  and  a  gun  in  the  other. 
Behind  him  came  another  redskin. 

Mot  crept  in  back  of  the  great  bowlder  against  which  we  stood,  and  I  got 
more  stones  to  throw  ;  but  with  their  torches  the  Indians  would  soon  have 
hunted  us  out,  had  it  not  been  for  a  most  singular  thing  which  suddenly  occurred. 


^*o\CU 


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z 
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o 

en 

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Pi 

E-i 


IN  THE   CAVE.  gj 

No  sooner  were  the  two  Indians  fairly  in  the  cave  with  their  torches  than 
there  came  a  rumble  like  low  thunder ;  then  such  a  prodigious  squeaking  and 
hissing  that,  along  with  a  whirring  noise,  we  were  quite  deafened  by  it. 

In  an  instant  the  whole  cavern  was  full  of  fluttering  wings,  which  flapped  in 
our  faces  and  fairly  took  away  our  breath.  I  fought  with  both  hands  for  a 
moment  or  two,  then  curled  down  beside  a  rock.  Once  or  twice  above  the  sharp 
squeaking  and  rumbling  I  thought  I  heard  the  Indians  yell.  Their  torches  were 
put  out,  and  I  could  not  see  them.  How  they  got  out  I'm  sure  I  don't  know ; 
for  I  do  not  think  I  could  have  stood  up  and  kept  my  feet.  There  was  a  perfect 
tornado  of  bats. 

And  for  nearly  two  hours  that  same  stunning,  fluttering,  and  strange  squeak- 
ing noise  continued  without  a  moment's  cessation.  We  lay  as  close  as  we  could 
to  the  rocks,  to  keep  out  of  the  way  of  the  excited  creatures. 

It  was  a  bat-cave,  similar  to  those  since  discovered  in  Uvalde  and  Bandera 
Counties.  Probably  it  was  the  torches  which  startled  the  bats.  I  have  no 
doubt  there  were  a  million  bats  in  that  cave.     It  is  their  home  by  day. 

After  long  time  —  hours.it  seemed  to  us  —  the  place  cleared  of  them  some- 
what, and  the  awful  rumble  gradually  ceased.  As  evening  approached  the 
innumerable  army  had  gone  forth  for  the  night. 

My  brother  and  I  crept  out  near  the  mouth  of  the  cave.  It  was  dark  ;  yet 
we  did  not  dare  to  venture  forth,  for  we  were  afraid  the  Indians  might  still  be 
near.  Bats,  in  little  flights,  went  fluttering  out  past  us  —  belated  stragglers 
which  had  overslept. 

At  length  I  heard  father  and  Uncle  Sidney  shouting  for  us  at  a  distance; 
and  after  looking  cautiously  out  of  the  cave  and  listening  for  some  minutes,  we 
ventured  to  crawl  forth  and  run  to  them. 

They  had  not  seen  the  Indians,  but  had  found  our  cherry-pails. 

Next  day  we  recovered  the  shot-gun,  and  Uncle  Sidney  found  the  Indian's 
rifle  in  the  cave.  It  had  a  solid  silver  clamp  on  the  breech  worth  nearly  fifteen 
dollars. 

The  bats,  no  doubt,  saved  us  our  scalps  that  time.  Often  since  I  have  been 
near  the  cave  at  sunset,  to  watch  "  the  squeakers  "  come  out  of  it.  A  gun  fired 
into  the  mouth  of  the  cavern  will,  at  that  time  of  day,  cause  them  to  come  out. 
One  has  abundant  need  to  get  out  of  the  way  when  they  start.  A  stream  of 
them,  the  full  size  of  the  hole,  packed  close  together,  will  pour  out  for  two  hours 
steadily.     There  seems  no  end  of  them. 

For  anything  we  know  the  cave  extends  a  great  distance  under-ground. 
The  bats  roost  there,  clinging  to  its  sides  and  roof. 


62  THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN   THE   TROPICS. 

"  New  Mexico  and  this  West  Texas  country  is  indeed  a  remarkable 
land,''  said  Brett.  "Those  are  wonderful  facts  about  the  bats;  but  as 
it  happens  I  can  match  your  bat  story  with  a  bee  story,  which,  how- 
ever, ends  in  a  bear  story.  But  never  mind  that  part.  I  think  I  can 
safely  vouch  for  the  truth  of  my  account;  for  I  was  sure  I  saw  strict 
veracity  gleaming  in  the  eye  of  my  informant,  whose  name,  by  the 
way,  is  Cantwell.     But  rest  assured  there  is  no  cant  to  his  narrative."" 

Four  of  us  (he  said)  —  my  ranch  partner,  Alfred  Dinsmore,  and  myself,  with 
a  young  German  house-carpenter,  named  Wert  Auspach,  and  a  colored  boy, 
called  "  Grant,"  — had  set  out  that  day  for  a  load  of  honey. 

A  load  of  honey  will  sound  oddly,  perhaps  ;  but  that  is  the  way  we  get  it 
here.  Wild  honey,  rich  stores  of  it,  is  laid  up  by  the  native  bees.  The  settlers 
often  have  resort  to  a  "  bee-tree  "  when  their  stock  of  sugar  and  molasses  runs 
low.  The  honey  is  drained  from  the  comb  and  put  away  in  jars,  and  the  wax 
makes  excellent  candles. 

Twelve  or  thirteen  miles  up  north  of  our  location,  in  the  canon  of  Lipan 
Creek  (headquarters  of  Wichita  River),  there  is  a  "bee's  nest"  which  has  sup- 
plied us  and  the  families  of  three  other  stockmen  for  the  last  four  years. 

This  enormous  bee-hive  is  in  the  cliff,  on  the  north  side  of  the  canon,  front- 
ing south.  The  entrance  to  it  is  up  some  forty  feet  above  the  creek-bed,  where 
there  is  a  horizontal  crack  eight  or  ten  inches  wide,  running  along  the  face  of  the 
precipice  for  four  or  five  hundred  feet.  This  crack  opens  back  into  recesses  in 
the  shattered  crags  behind  ;  and  here  the  bees,  colony  on  colony,  have  their 
nests  and  have  laid  up  honey  for  many  years. 

By  going  round  and  operating  from  the  top  of  the  cliff  we  have  at  odd  times 
dislodged  considerable  portions  of  the  rock  with  blasts  of  gunpowder  and  crow- 
bars —  sufficient  to  secure  many  hogsheads  of  comb. 

Still  deeper  down  in  great  pits  and  holes  there  seems  to  be  avast  deposit  of 
old,  thick,  black  candied  honey,  which  has  been  drained  from  the  tiers  of  comb 
above  year  after  year. 

Lower  down  the  face  of  the  cliff  the  honey,  especially  on  very  hot  days,  weeps 
and  oozes  out  at  little  cracks  and  seams  of  the  fissured  sandstone  —  so  much 
so  that  the  creek-bank  is  there  completely  honey-soaked,  and  the  water  for  a 
mile  or  two  below  will  at  times  be  perceptibly  sweetened.  Much  of  this  escap- 
ing honey  the  bees  themselves  carry  back  up  the  face  of  the  cliff. 

On  a  pleasant  June  day  the  canon,  and  high  above  it,  the  air  will  be  darkened 
by  the  in-coming  and  out-going  clouds  of  bees,  millions  on  millions  of  them, 


o 
u 

>< 
w 


w 


z 

w 


A   NORTHER. 


65 


along  the  whole  length  of  the  crevice.'  The  ordinary  drowsy  hum  of  a  hive  is 
here  intensified  to  a  deep,  solemn  roar,  distinctly  audible  for  a  mile  below. 

To  go  honey-gathering  there  on  a  summer's  day  might  be  a  perilous  busi- 
ness. We  have  always  made  our  raids  on  the  nest  during  the  cold  weather, 
generally  on  some  chilly  day  toward  Christmas,  when  the  bees  are  lying  torpid 
and  a  winter  silence  has  fallen  upon  this  whole  vast  apiary. 

It  was  one  of  the  last  days  of  November ;  and  when  we  started  that  morn- 
ing the  weather  was  quite  warm,  almost  "muggy,"  with  a  thin  bluish  fog  rising 
from  the  prairie,  which  had  lately  been  burned  over  and  lay  coal-black  under 
foot. 

But  we  had  not  gone  more  than  eight  or  ten  miles  when  a  "norther"  came 
down  on  us  in  full  blast.  The  first  we  saw  of  it  was  a  sudden  whirling  of  the 
fog  over  the  tops  of  the  mesquites  out  to  our  left.  Then  came  a  puff  of  cold  air, 
as  damp  and  chilling  as  when  in  summer  one  steps  into  a  cellar. 

A  minute  later  this  premonitory  whiff  was  followed  by  a  second  puff,  a  per- 
fect gust,  which  sent  our  hats  whirling,  and  upset  the  half-hogshead  off  the 
spring-board. 

The  norther  was  upon  us  ! 

That  is  the  way  these  freezing  gales  always  come  here;  sometimes  they 
don't  even  give  one  time  to  get  on  a  great  coat  and  mittens.  How  cold  they 
are,  and  how  they  cut  through  a  body !  In  half  an  hour  the  mercury  will  fall 
forty  and  fifty  degrees. 

Often  rain,  sleet,  and  sometimes  snow  come  with  it. 

No  one  tries  to  do  anything  during  a  norther  here.  You  cannot  even  get  a 
blacksmith  to  shoe  your  horse  while  a  norther  is  blowing,  and  it  often  blows 
three  days  at  a  bout. 

The  folks  "den  up"  and  keep  a  great  fire  going.  You  will  not  see  a  person 
stirring  out  anywhere,  —  no  old  settler  at  least,  in  the  village. 

When  the  norther  struck  us,  we  set  out  to  go  back  home ;  but  as  the  canon 
was  now  no  great  distance  ahead,  we  drove  on  and  got  into  that  at  a  place  about 
two  miles  below  the  great  "bee's  nest." 

The  cliffs  here  broke  the  force  of  the  gale,  and  selecting  a  place  where  a  big 
rick  of  drift  stuff  had  been  lodged  against  the  rocks  by  floods,  we  built  a  roaring 
fire  and  made  a  shed,  partly  of  the  half-hogsheads  and  spring-boards,  and  partly 
of  drift-wood  and  brush.  Here  we  made  ourselves  comfortable,  gave  the  mules 
their  corn,  and  had  no  thoughts  of  going  up  on  the  prairie  for  honey  or  any- 
thing else  while  the  gale  held. 

The  crag  on  the  side  against  which  we  had  our  fire  was  sixty  or  seventy  feet 
high,  but,  as  I  have  mentioned  above,  was  here  all  along  much  fissured  and 


66  THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE    TROPICS. 

cracked,  showing  crevices  and  crannies  where  the  broken  strata  had  worked 
apart,  often  three  and  four  feet  in  width.  The  drift-rick,  which  served  us  for 
wood-pile,  burned  well,  —  the  blaze  mounting  half  way  up  the  cliff,  and  casting 
a  warm  glow  back  into  our  shed. 

Here,  throughout  the  rest  of  the  day  and  evening,  while  the  gusts  howled 
across  the  cailon  from  out  over  the  prairie  to  north'ard,  we  lay  at  our  ease  and 
told  stories,  going  sound  asleep  at  last,  wrapped  up  in  our  buffalo  skins. 

Some  hours  must  have  passed  ;  for  our  big  fire  had  burned  down  low,  when  I 
was  roused  by  a  scratching,  raking  noise  on  the  rocks  in  front  of  our  shed. 
Before  I  was  as  yet  half  awake  something —  it  was  so  dark  I  could  not  tell 
what,  but  some  heavy  animal,  I  felt  sure  —  came  down  the  rocks  and  fell  partly 
into  the  open  front  of  our  shed,  and  right  on  Auspach's  (the  German)  extended 
feet  and  ankles. 

With  that  Wert  jumped  to  get  up  and  gave  a  shout,  and  we  all  arose, 
fumbling  for  our  guns.  But  before  Anse  or  I  or  any  of  us  had  gained  our  legs, 
down  came  the  shed,  the  half-hogsheads  we  had  brought  for  our  honey,  our 
tilted-up  spring-board  wagon,  brush,  and  all. 

Who  had  the  most  to  do  with  knocking  it  down  I  am  sure  I  don't  know.  It 
was  a  free  scrabble.  One  of  the  half-hogsheads  tipped  over  in  such  a  way  as  to 
completely  shut  Grant,  the  colored  boy,  under  it  all  but  his  shanks  ;  and  as  the 
fore-wheels  of  the  spring-board  lay  partly  across  the  bottom  of  the  hogshead,  he 
was  caught  fast. 

The  noise  he  made  was  as  nothing  compared  with  the  racket  the  German 
was  making ;  for  the  other  half-bogshead  had  partly  fallen  over  him,  and  he  was 
kicking  at  an  unknown  wild  beast  whose  growls  mixed  with  his  shouts. 

"  Arnse,  vere  bees  you  ?  "    we  heard  him  calling  out  in  reproachful  tones. 

The  moment  we  had  extricated  ourselves  from  the  brush  and  stakes,  Dins- 
more  and  I  sprang  to  our  feet  and  tried  to  take  in  the  situation. 

It  was  too  dark  to  see  much.  The  brush  was  snapping  and  the  half-hogs- 
head bobbing  up  and  clown  ;  and  just  then  the  savage,  growling  head  of  some 
animal  was  thrust  repeatedly  out  betwixt  the  spokes  of  one  of  the  hind  wheels 
of  the  capsized  spring-board. 

Anse,  who  had  seized  upon  the  camp-axe,  let  it  drive  at  the  growler's  head. 
His  first  stroke  knocked  two  spokes  out  of  the  wheel.  At  its  next  plunge  the 
animal  came  head  and  shoulders  through  the  gap ;  but  I  had  secured  one  of 
the  guns,  and  at  this  juncture,  by  good  luck,  shot  it  dead. 

Almost  with  the  report  Wert,  who  had  been  making  frantic  efforts  to 
get  out  through  the  brush  on  the  back  side,  scrambled  to  his  feet,  shout- 
ing, — 


a 

H 
Z 
D 
O 

u 

z 


o 

D 
O 


A   STRANGE    VISITOR. 


69 


"Shades,  pe  careful  vare  you  shoots!  Whole 
dozen  tem  puckshots  go  puzz  py  my  ear !  " 

"It 's  a  bear,"  said  Alf,  peeping  between  the 
spokes  of  the  wheel ;  but  before  we  had  time  to 
haul  out  the  carcass,  or  even  get  Grant  from 
under  the  hogshead  tub,  another  bear  came  sliding 
down  the  rocks  with  a  scratch  and  a  grow],  and 
fell  sprawling  into  the  ashes  and  still  glowing 
embers  of  the  fire.  A  perfect  smother  of  ashes 
and  coals  flew  up.  It  must  have  been  a  warm 
lighting  for  the  old  chap's  feet. 

He  whirled  round  with  a  low  yelp,  and  leaped 
out  over  some  logs  at  the  lower  end  of  our  shed. 
I  just  had  time  to  cock  my  left  barrel  and  fire 
as  his  hind  legs  disappeared  down  over  the  logs. 
We    heard    him    give   a    growl    when    the    shot 


"SHARLES,   PE   CAREFUL   VARE   YOU    SHOOTS!" 


y0  THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE   TROPICS. 

struck  him,  but  had  no  time  to  look  for  him  or  even  see  where  he  went  to,  for 
Wert  had  set  up  a  great  outcry. 

"  Queek,  Arnse  !  queek,  Sharles,  mit  yours  goon  !  In  der  holler  up  ze  rock  ! 
Dou  you  hears  him  yow  ?    Anoder  one  's  coming  down  !  " 

Surely  enough,  there  was  another  looking  out  of  a  great  fissure,  up  twenty- 
five  or  thirty  feet,  growling  and  making  as  if  to  descend.  I  could  plainly  see 
its  head,  and  a  moment  after  it  turned  to  come  down  tail-first. 

"  Zhoust  you  hark,  poys!  "  exclaimed  Wert.      "  Only  hear  dem  sing!" 

If  there  had  been  a  whole  menagerie  shut  up  back  amongst  those  rocks  it 
could  hardly  have  made  more  music, — growling,  whining,  roaring,  and  yowl- 
ing ! 

"  There  's  an  awful  big  den  in  there  !    and  it 's  biling  over  full  of  'em  !  " 

Every  minute  or  two  a  head  would  pop  out  in  sight  from  the  crevice.  The 
firing  and  the  noise  had  stirred  them  up.  It  looked  as  if  the  animals  had 
climbed  up  to  this  den  over  the  heap  of  driftwood  which  our  fire  had  burned 
up.  The  smoke  and  fire  flaming  up  to  the  mouth  of  the  hole  had  kept  them  in 
during  the  first  part  of  the  night ;  or  else  they  had  all  been  comfortably  asleep 
in  there,  passing  the  norther.  But  now  they  evidently  all  wanted  to  come  out 
—  hungry,  perhaps. 

During  the  forenoon  we  got  logs  and  stuff  from  the  drift-ricks  lower  down, 
which  we  set  up  in  such  a  way  that  we  could  climb  to  the  entrance  of  the  den. 
All  being  quiet  there  now,  Alf  climbed  up  —  to  reconnoitre  the  brutes. 

There  was  a  pretty  large  fissure  which  opened  back  between  and  over 
great  detached  masses  of  rock  for  eighteen  or  twenty  feet.  In  back  of  these, 
lower  down,  there  seemed  to  be  a  big,  black  hole,  evidently  a  considerable 
cavern. 

I  now  climbed  up,  and  together  we  peeped  and  peeked  about  for  some  time. 
When  we  looked  down  into  the  dark  hole  there  would  be  low"growling. 

Three  or  four  hours  were  spent.  We  found  that  it  was  no  use  trying  to 
shoot  them  in  the  dark.  There  was  a  cave  back  in  there  as  large  as  a  hall  — 
a  great  irregular  cavity,  emitting  a  very  strong  bearish  stench. 

In  the  afternoon  we  assailed  them  on  a  new  tack.  Wert  and  Grant  split  up 
a  lot  of  wood  which,  with  their  assistance,  we  carried  up  our  log  ladder,  half  a 
cord  of  it  at  least,  and  then  pitched  it  into  the  cavern.  A  brand  was  then 
fetched  up,  and  we  soon  had  a  bonfire  going  which  lighted  up  the  whole  inside 
of  the  den.  From  where  we  stood  up  in  the  fissure  the  bears  could  now  be 
seen  crouching  behind  the  black  bowlders  and  in  the  far  corners  of  the  cave, 
snarling  uneasily  at  the  fire.  I  counted  five,  and  Alf  soon  made  out  two 
more. 


A    STRANGE    VISITOR. 


71 


To  shoot  game  thus  cornered  up  maybe  deemed  an  unsportsmanlike  method 
of  hunting;  but  my  friend  and  myself  were  troubled  by  no  such  scruples. 

An  hour  later  we  hauled  seven  bears  —  dead  ones  —  out  of  that  cave,  which, 
added  to  those  already  secured,  made  ten  carcasses. 

They  were,  with  but  one  exception,  remarkably  fat  bears,  too.  Their  flesh 
had  a  noticeably  sweet  taste,  which  we  attributed  to  their  getting  so  much 
honey  hereabouts. 


CHAPTER    II. 

EL      PASO. "BROKE      UP      ON      TIME." A      "  SOLIMETER." MEXICAN      CUSTOM- 
HOUSE     CHARGES. APACHE      ATROCITIES. IN      A      DESERT. AN      IMMENSE 

STOCK      FARM. MEXICAN      POST-OFFICES.  CHIHUAHUA.  THE      HOTEL.  A 

MOONLIGHT    PROMENADE.  AN  AWKWARD    RENCONTRE. TWO     ROUTES    INTO 

MEXICO. A  DISCUSSION.  DIVISION  OF  THE  PARTY. OFF    FOR  THE  CITY    OF 

MEXICO  BY  DILIGENCE. 

N  the  morning  of  the  26th  we  bade 
adieu  to  our  comfortable  quarters 
in  the  Las  Cruces,  which  had 
come  to  seem  quite  like  home  to 
us,  and,  getting  into  a  'bus,  were 
driven  from  the  Santa  Fe  depot 
across  the  ford  of  the  Rio  Grande 
to  the  pretty  new  station  of  the 
recently  finished  line  of  El  Ferro- 
carril  Central  Mexicano,  which  at  the  date  of  our  visit  had  begun 
running  its  trains  from  El  Paso  down  to  Chihuahua,  the  capital  of  the 
Mexican  State  of  the  same  name,  a  distance  of  two  hundred  and 
twenty-five  miles  south. 

By  mistake  we  did  not  get  oft"  till  near  train  time,  and  the  Mexican 
custom-house  officer  on  the  south  bank  of  the  river  delayed  us  still 
further   while   he   inspected  our  travelling-bags.      Then   we  had  the 
narrow  streets  of  the  Mexican  town  of  El  Paso  to  wind  through. 
"Driver,  what  time  is  it  now?  "  Moses  called  out. 
The   driver,   a  typical   New  Mexican,   shook   his   head   gloomily. 
"We 're 'all  broke  upon  time  here,"  he  said.     "All  broke  up.     'What 
kind  of  time  do  you  want,  sir?" 
72 


RATHER  MIXED. 


73 


"What  kind  have  you  got?" 

"All  kinds.  Thar 's  local  time.  That  varies  somewhat, 'cording  to 
gents'  watches,  you  know,  but  I  calls  it  (looking)  7.50  A.M.  But  the 
Santa  Fe  folks  here  run  their  trains  on  Jefferson  City  time.  It  ought 
to  be  8.48  by  them,  I  expect.  But  perhaps  as  yer  goin'  by  the  Cen- 
tral you  wants  their  time.  That's  City  o' Mexico  time, 'bout  8.20, 
say.  But  lots  o'  gents  wants  Chicago  time  an'  keeps  ter  that.  By 
that  'tis  now  'bout  8.54,  mebbe.  But  ask  most  any  of  these  western- 
through  gents  on  the  Southern  Pacific  and  they'd  say  6.50  a.m.;  for 
they  haint  changed  their  watches,  an'  gives  you  San  Francisco  time. 
'Though  'bout's  many  more  mought  say  9.50  for  they  're  just  in  from 
the  East  and  have  New  York  time.  We  figo-ers  it  as  snug  's  we  can 
on  'em  an'  trys  ter  fit  'em  out.  But  gents  gets  left  every  day  on  it,  an' 
there's  no  end  o'  swarin'.  We're  all  broke  up.  I  dunno  what  we '11 
do  on  it  yet  —  onless  the  buys  goes  an'  gets  watches  that  keeps  all  the 
kinds  o'  time  ter  wunst.  For  let  a  gent  get  a  little  flurried  an'  he  's 
dead  sure  to  go  an'  add  the  diffrunce  o'  time  on  the  wrong  end. 

"  But  mornin's  at  the  hotel  is  when  we  has  the  wust  rows,  callin' 
gents  for  the  trains.  They  leaves  word  at  the  office  ter  be  called  at 
five,  or  half-past,  or  mebbe  six.  We  goes  ter  knockin'  fur  'em  as 
near  's  we  can  figger  it,  fur  their  trains.  But  like  's  any  way  they  all 
comes  down  madder  'n  hens.  Some  's  an  hour  too  airly  an'  some  's  got 
left  an'  has  ter  lay  round  all  day  cussin  about  it.  I  dunno  what  we'll 
do.     Thar's  no  gauge  yet." 

"What  you  want  here,  driver,"  said  Stein,  "is  a  solimeter.'1'' 

"  I  expect  so,"  said  the  man,  confidently.  "  Ken  ye  give  us  the 
name  of  the  kempany  that  makes  'em  ?  " 

"I  am  sorry  to  say  I  cannot,"  said  Stein,  "for  the  reason  that  they 
are  not  yet  made.  It  remains  for  some  enterprising  American  to 
make  them  —  and  make  his  fortune  at  the  same  time.  What  we  need 
is  a  watch  that  —  something  as  a  compass  always  points  to  the  pole  — 
shall  always  indicate  solar  time  according  to  the  position  of  the  sun 


74 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN   THE    TROPICS. 


in  the  sky,  or  rather  according  to  the  relative  position  of  the  sun  and 
any  given  place  on  the  earth.  Noon  with  such  a  watch  would  always 
be  when  the  sun  had  reached  its  highest  point  in  the  heavens;  and 
midnight  when  it  stood  at  the  opposite  point  beneath  the  earth.  No 
matter  how  far  such  a  watch  was  carried,  east  or  west,  it  would 
always  indicate  correct  local  time  by  the  sun.  Once  such  watches 
were  universally  adopted,  the  whole  problem  of  varying  time  would 
be  solved." 

The  driver  gazed  suspiciously  at  Stein,  but  seeing  no  wild  rolling 
of  his  eyes  began  to  lash  the  horses. 

Moses  laughed.     "You've  unsettled  his  peace  of  mind,"  said  he. 

"  But  that  read)'  is  an  idea,  Stein,"  Brett  remarked.  "  If  it  were  n't 
quite  so  universally  big  I  think  something  might  be  done  with  it. 
What  did  you  call  it, —  that  new  ideal  watch,  I  mean?" 

"Oh,  I  called  it  a  solimeter — sun  measurer,"  said  Stein,  laughing. 
"I  expect  to  be  carrying  one  some  twenty  years  hence." 

Meantime  Ave  were  going  on  at  a  great  pace,  but  soon  pulled  up. 

"  Central  Mexican  station,  gents,"  the  driver  shouted.  "Just  in  time 
to  slip  aboard.      Fifty  cents  all  round,  please." 

Some  of  our  shrewd  Americans  who  —  now  that  Mexico  is  being 
opened  up  by  railroads  —  are  planning  to  ship  in  goods  and  sell 
them  at  a  handsome  profit,  may  be  taken  aback  when  they  come  to 
pay  duties  at  the  frontier.  Mexican  duties  are  enormous.  On  many 
articles  they  are  as  high  as  one  hundred  per  cent  of  the  value  of  the 
goods;  and  the  Mexican  officials  rate  the  value  to  suit  themselves. 

We  saw  an  example  of  this  at  the  station  that  morning.  An  enter- 
prising fellow-countrywoman  of  our  own,  hailing  from  Chicago,  but 
a  very  decent  sort  of  person,  nevertheless,  and  very  comely,  too,  was 
on  her  way  to  Chihuahua  to  open  an  American  boarding-house. 
Among  other  articles  she  had  three  stoves,  not  very  large  ones;  and 
those  Mexican  officers  charged  her  seventy-five  dollars  duties  on 
those  three  stoves! 


ft&rj!*^  Tlfr^v^  *  Ji 


&<L  ^ 


THE   CUSTOM  HOUSE. 


77 


The  poor  woman  first  turned  red,  then  pale;  but  there  was  no 
appeal.  It  was  pay  or  lose  them.  The  sympathies  of  our  fellow- 
clubsman,  Moses,  were  so  strongly  aroused  at  the  sight  of  the 
woman's  evidently  genuine,  though  quiet  distress,  that  we,  his  friends, 
had  no  small  task  to  get  him  into  the  car  and  prevent  another  war 
with  Mexico  there  on  the  platform  of  the  station. 

"  'Tis  the  most  barefaced,  villanous  transaction  which  I  ever  saw 
perpetrated  under  the  sanction  of  law!  Such  a  government  deserves 
to  be  smashed,  and  I  would  like  to  assist!  "  raved  Moses. 

We  had  to  distract  his  attention  by  telling  him  of  an  Indian  out- 
rage which  had  occurred  that  morning  up  near  Rincon,  which  we  had 
passed  on  our  way  down.  The  Apaches  had  burned  a  house  and 
killed  a  woman  and  two  children.  These  were  renegade  Apaches 
that  had  run  away  from  the  reservation.  It  was  a  satisfaction  to  know 
that  the  wretches  would  soon  be  hunted  down  and  shot.  For  Gen- 
eral Crook  now  has  nearly  all  the  Apaches  on  their  reservation;  and 
all  the  "  bucks  "  are  compelled  to  wear  a  numbered  tag,  which  they 
have  to  show  up  conspicuously  twice  a  day;  otherwise,  there  is  an 
Indian  hunt  directly.  Of  all  ruthless,  bloodthirsty  beasts  which  have 
thus  far  inhabited  the  earth,  including  tigers,  jaguars,  and  grizzly 
bears,  none  have  ever  yet  been  worthy  to  be  named  with  an  Apache 
when  he  smells  the  blood  of  a  white  family. 

Upon  the  same  morning,  too,  we  heard  that  a  party  of  them  had 
killed  forty-six  persons,  not  far  out  of  Chihuahua.  The  Apaches  not 
only  ravage  Arizona  and  New  Mexico,  but  Old  Mexico  as  well,  for 
a  distance  of  four  hundred  miles  south  of  the  frontier.  The  Mexican 
government  does  not  mince  matters,  but  keeps  a  standing  reward  up 
for  Apache  heads.  Very  few  are  brought  in,  however;  for  the 
government  is  loth  to  send  the  soldiers  out  after  Indians  lest  the  ras- 
cals should  desert  across  the  frontier,  the  average  soldado  Mexicano 
being  much  inclined  to  take  French  leave  of  his  country's  service. 
Upon  quitting  the  station  the  train  soon  steams  out  into  the  desert, 


78 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE    TROPICS. 


for  by  that  word  the  country  for  the  first  eighty  miles  south  of  El 
Paso  is  best  described.  Scattered  bunches  of  soap-weed  and  here 
and  there  a  cactus,  or  a  thorn  bush,  are  the  only  vegetation.  Sand 
hills,  shifting  in  the  wind  are  seen  at  intervals;  but  for  the  most  part 


WS^^^^^S^^^ 


A    DESERT. 


the  country  is  a  dreary,  waterless  plain,  bounded  around  by  jagged 
purple-hued  peaks,  which  give  the  landscape  a  singularly  wild  and 
barren  aspect.  One's  first  impressions  of  Mexico,  entered  from  this 
point,  are  dreary.  Artesian  wells  might  perhaps  redeem  this  arid 
tract.  Stein,  indeed,  thought  he  saw  a  chance  for  a  fortune  by  pur- 
chasing this  desert  —  for  a  trifle  —  and  boring  wells  which  would  (or 
ought  to,  according  to  his  theory)  give  a  copious  supply  of  water  for 
irrigation. 


THE  DESERT. 


79 


"You  forget  the  duties!"  interrupted  Moses.  "These  Mexicans 
would  charge  you  so  much  for  duties  on  your  pump-augurs  that  they 
would  burst  your  whole  business." 

Moses  is  a  free-trader  —  since  coming  to  Mexico. 

But  though  a  desert,  the  country  is  a  fine  one  for  building  a  rail- 
road in;  and  it  would  look  as  if  the  Nickerson  combination,  with  a 
promised  subsidy  of  $15,200  to  the  mile  from  the  Mexican  govern- 
ment, had  a  good  thing  on  their  railroad. 

"  A  good  thing  if  they  get  the  money,"  said  Moses.  "  But  I 
respectfully  submit  that  twenty  million  dollars  is  a  good  deal  to  get 
of  such  a  country  and  such  a  government.  In  ninety-nine  years,  too, 
the  line  reverts  to  the  Mexican  government  —  if  there  be  one  in  exist- 
ence by  that  time." 

"It  is  said  that  thus  far  the  Mexicans  have  acted  in  perfect  good 
faith  and  very  honorably  toward  the  American  company,"  Harold 
remarked.  "  I  see  no  reason  to  suppose  that  they  will  not  fulfil  their 
pledges." 

Between  El  Paso  and  Chihuahua  there  are  but  few  way-stations, 
—  only  one,  in  fact,  that  can  fairly  be  called  such.  There  are  water- 
tanks  and  sidings  after  every  fifteen  or  twenty  miles;  and  atone  of 
these  two  freight  cars  have  been  converted  into  a  "  dining-room  "  for 
travellers.  But,  for  the  most  part,  the  train  appears  to  make  one 
straight  run,  without  change  of  locomotive,  for  Chihuahua. 

After  the  first  seventy-five  or  eighty  miles  the  line  enters  the 
great  estate  of  the  present  governor  of  the  State  of  Chihuahua. 
The  land  begins  to  lose  somewhat  of  its  desert  aspect,  and  shows 
scant}'  grass.  The  mountains  too  are  rugged,  bare,  and  sombre;  and 
here  and  there  herds  of  cattle  are  seen.  These  latter  grow  more  and 
more  numerous,  till  at  length  the  locomotive  is  compelled  to  keep  up 
a  continuous  piping  of  its  whistle  to  frighten  the  animals  off  the 
line. 

There  are  said  to  be  thirty  thousand  head  of  cattle  and  two  hun- 


go  THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE   TROPICS. 

dred  thousand  sheep  on  this  one  estate,  which  is  of  fully  ten  thousand 
square  miles'  extent.  Not  even  our  most  ambitious  fellow-citizens 
dare  dream  of  a  farm  like  that!  The  people  on  it  are  all  "peons" 
(laborers  and  herdsmen),  and  are  about  as  much  a  part  of  the  estate 
as  the  cattle,  —  more  so,  even,  tor  they  vote  as  the  governor  wishes; 
and  he  does  not  have  to  go  round  among  them  with  his  hat  in  his 
hand  and  promise  them  all  postmasterships.  For  one  reason,  there 
are  no  post-offices.  Only  two  mails  a  week  leave  Chihuahua  Cit}' 
itself,  —  the  capital  of  the  State,  and  a  town  of  twenty  thousand  in- 
habitants! 

The  post-office  there  is  refreshingly  primitive.  Go  in  and  ask  for 
a  letter,  and  the  postmaster  hands  you  the  entire  mail  and  lets  j'ou  see 
for  yourself.  You  take  what  belongs  to  you  —  if  you  are  honest  — 
or  carry  off  the  whole  outfit  if  otherwise.  The  postmaster  does  not 
even  do  you  the  politeness  to  watch  you,  but  sits  at  his  ease  acting  as 
if  the  mail  were  a  burden  he  would  gladly  be  rid  of.  Nobody  steals 
letters,  however,  —  for  the  reason,  maybe,  that  everybody  knows 
better  than  to  send  money  or  anything  else  of  any  value  in  a  Mexican 
mail. 

The  run  from  El  Paso  to  Chihuahua  was  made  in  ten  hours.  It 
was  seven  o'clock  and  moonlight  when  we  reached  the  station,  which 
is  a  mile  to  the  north  of  the  town,  across  the  river. 

Seen  by  moonlight  Chihuahua  is  a  white  town,  and  at  a  distance 
might  be  taken  for  a  clean  one,  —  for  a  large  New  England  village,  in 
fact.  This  resemblance  vanishes  utterly  on  a  nearer  approach,  how- 
ever; for  the  houses  are  all  built  either  of  stone  or  adobe,  have  flat 
roofs,  and  are  plastered  with  lime  on  the  outside,  or  else  whitewashed. 
The  windows  too  are  secured  by  strong  iron  grates  on  the  front,  so 
that  a  street  here  has  a  decidedly  jail-like  air. 

The  principal  edifices  are  the  church,  the  cabildo  (calaboose),  with 
which  is  connected  the  town  hall,  alcalde's  office,  etc.,  the  mint,  the 
governor's  house,  and  the  structures  used  as  hotels.     These  latter  and 


CHIHUAHUA. 


81 


the  church  front  on  the  -plaza,  or  public  square,  at  the  centre  of  the 
town.  To  one  of  the  former,  called  the  "  American  House,"  we  were 
driven  in  a  truly  American  'bus  ("  fifty  cents  all  round  ")  from  the 
station,  and  arrived  just  as  the  really  very,  fine  military  band  stationed 
at  the  plaza  with  the  Mexican  troops  began  to  play  for  the  evening, 
according  to  usual  custom.  The  moonlight,  the  plaza  with  the  green 
trees,  fountains,  and  sauntering  crowds  of  sehores  and  sehoritas,  all  in 


CHIHUAHUA. 


the  humble  presence  of  the  massive  double-towered  old  church,  where 
the  odd,  silver-toned  bells  seemed  constantly  striking  the  hours  and 
the  quarters,  made  a  very  pleasing  scene  for  a  late  November  night. 

The  interior  of  the  "American  House"  was  not  as  pleasing.  This 
and  all  houses  here  are  built  about  a  -patio,  or  open  court-yard.  The 
rooms   open  out  by  folding-doors,  defended  by  iron  gratings  upon  a 


82  THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN   THE   TROPICS. 

balcony  surrounding  this  patio  on  the  inside.  Few  of  the  apartments 
have  windows;  the  doors  have  to  suffice  to  admit  light.  The  floors 
are  of  tiles.  To  say  that  the  beds  are  as  hard  as  a  board  is  an  injus- 
tice—  to  the  board.  The  pillows  are  of  sodden  wool;  and  the  rooms 
have  a  damp,  never-been-aired  smell,  to  which  was  superadded  the 
languishing  odor  of  Mexico. 

"It  isn't  garlic,  exactly,"  said  Stein,  "and  it  isn't  mustiness.  My 
nose  does  n't  quite  make  it  out." 

"  It  is  the  country,"  said  Moses.  "  It  is  Mexico.  I've  smelled  it 
ever  since  I  crossed  the  line." 

For  supper  they  gave  us  a  mixture  of  American  and  Mexican 
dishes;  among  the  latter  black  beans  (  frigoles)  prepared  in  a  manner 
to  impart  a  flavor  which  suggested  the  "odor  of  the  country,"  above- 
mentioned.     Still,  these  were  rather  palatable. 

The  frigoles  eaten,  we  went  out  to  see  the  town  and  hear  the 
music  on  the  plaza.  While  promenading,  the  party  became  sepa- 
rated into  twos  and  threes,  and  went  different  ways.  But  by  ten 
o'clock  all  had  got  back  to  the  hotel,  except  Moses,  the  "theolog," 
and  Karzy.  We  went  to  bed  thinking  they  would  soon  come  in;  but 
about  midnight  Stein,  with  whom  Karzy  was  to  share  a  room,  came 
round  and  waked  us  all. 

"  Karzy  has  n't  come  in  yet,"  he  said,  "  nor  Moses,  nor  Mr.  Gar- 
land.    Something's  wrong,  I  am  afraid." 

We  all  got  up,  feeling  a  good  deal  concerned.  No  one  was  stirring 
in  the  house,  so  we  poked  our  way  out  into  the  street  and  across  the 
plaza.  Here  we  ran  into  a  night  watchman,  or  sere/w,  who  would 
no  doubt  have  arrested  us  had  we  not  been  quite  so  numerous.  He 
was  a  formidable  fellow,  armed  with  a  carbine,  revolver,  and  I  know 
not  what  other  weapons,  also  a  lantern,  very  like  those  made  of  tin 
and  used  in  New  England  sixty  years  ago. 

From  the  plaza  we  went  out  past  the  church  and  dived  in  and  out 
through  a  maze  of  dirty,  narrow  streets,  making  a  complete  circuit 


ONE  NIGHT.  S^ 

of  the  town,  in  fact,  and  returning  to  the  hotel,  without  seeing  or 
hearing  anything  of  the  missing  ones.  Indeed,  we  might  have 
anticipated  the  result  of  our  search,  had  we  coolly  considered  it. 

To  forcibly  wake  the  landlord  was  our  next  effort  —  and  it  was  an 
effort,  indeed!  As  might  have  been  anticipated  again,  we  got  no 
information  from  him.  I  doubt  if  we  even  succeeded  in  making  him 
at  all  understand  the  case. 

The  balance  of  the  night  was  spent  in  anxious  conjecture  and  con- 
sultation, in  the  several  rooms  of  the  party;  and  with  earliest  peep 
of  day  we  all  sallied  forth  again  to  make  a  thorough  canvass  of  the 
city,  determined  to  find  the  absent  members  of  the  Club,  alive  or 
dead.  Stein  and  the  writer  proceeded  to  the  alcalde's  office,  and 
from  the  guard  (the  alcalde  himself  was  not  yet  astir)  we  heard 
something  which  much  alleviated  our  fears,  —  namely,  that  three 
young  Americanos  were  in  the  calaboose! 

"Let's  go  home  to  breakfast,"  said  Stein,  "and  allow  justice  to 
take  its  course;"  for  we  now  felt  rather  vexed  than  alarmed. 

While  at  breakfast  the  three  lamented  ones  came  in.  That  they 
looked  a  trifle  cheap  (baratos)  rather  did  them  credit,  we  thought. 
Apparently  they  had  agreed  among  themselves  not  to  give  a  full 
account  of  their  adventures.  But  we  knew  so  much  already,  and 
greeted  them  with  such  a  roar  of  inquiry,  that  the  "  theolog."  at  once 
made  a  clean  breast  of  everything,  at  the  same  time  expressing  his 
regrets  in  a  very  handsome  manner  for  the  anxiety  they  had 
caused  us. 

The  gist  of  their  story  may  be  given  in  a  few  words:  After  separ- 
ating from  us  the  previous  evening  on  the  plaza,  they  had  walked  a 
little,  and,  wishing  to  see  the  sights,  of  course  had  stepped  into  a 
saloon,  or  whatever  else  it  may  be  called,  where  a  game  of  three- 
card  monte  was  in  progress.  They  went  in,  not  to  play,  but  sim- 
ply to  watch  the  Mexicans  for  a  moment.  The  room  was  an 
inner    one,   with  a    rather  devious   entry- way;    and   they    had    been 


% 

84 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE    TROPICS. 


there    but    a    minute    or    two    when    a    Mexican    officer    (a    brother 
of  the    governor   of  the    State,  as    we    learned),    who    was    betting 

rather  heavily, 
became  enraged 
with  the  "  deal- 
er," charging  him 
with  cheating  at 
the  cards.  There 
was  a  moment's 
altercation,  when 
the  officer  drew 
a  revolver  and 
shot  the  dealer 
three  or  four 
times,  killing 
him.  Othershots 
were  fired. 
There  was  a  gen- 
eral melee.  Kar- 
zy  says  that  Mo- 
ses got  under  the 
table.  Moses 
does  not  deny  it; 
he  remarked  that 
he  had  no  ambi- 
tion to  stop  a  bullet  which  Avas  none  of  his  business.  It  has  been  inti- 
mated, too,  that  Karzy  was  seen  trying  to  get  through  the  one  window; 
but  as  that  was  amply  provided  with  bars  on  the  outside,  he  did  not 
succeed  in  escaping  that  way.  Before  anybody  could  get  out  of  the 
place  a  squad  of  -policia  ran  in,  and,  holding  the  door,  bagged  the 
entire  party,  —  Mexicanos  y  Americanos*  todos,  —  and  marched  them 
all  off  to  the  calaboose  together. 


AN    INTERIOR. 


ROUTES.  85 

There  they  passed  the  night  in  a  room  with  a  stone  floor,  without 
beds  or  chairs,  squatted  against  the  wall.  But  immediately  that  the 
morning  examination  of  the  case  was  begun,  the  Americans  were 
discharged  and  bidden  to  go  about  their  business. 

"We  were  served  perfectly  right,"  said  Mr.  Garland,  in  conclu- 
sion. "We  had  no  business  whatever  in  such  a  place.  It  ought  to 
be  a  good  lesson  for  us.  I  only  regret  the  uneasiness  we  have  caused 
the  rest  of  the  party." 

No  one  could  stand  out  against  an  apology  so  manfully  made. 
We  unanimously  forgave  them. 

The  day  was  spent  looking  about  Chihuahua,  though  there  was 
little  more  to  see;  and  during  the  afternoon  we  held  a  council  to 
determine  the  route  of  our  journey  to  the  City  of  Mexico.  To  pro- 
ceed there  directly  by  land  would  necessitate  a  journey  of  some 
eight  hundred  miles  by  diligencia,  a  kind  of  overland  coach  to  Lagos, 
or  Aguas  Calientes,  the  most  northern  point  then  reached  by  the 
southern  division  of  the  new  Mexican  Central  railroad.  This  jour- 
ney would  occupy  eighteen  or  twenty  days,  and  was  sure  to  be  very 
tiresome.  The  route,  too,  was  said  to  be  infested  by  Apaches  and 
Mexican  bandits,  who  often  robbed  the  diligeticias. 

Brett,  Harold,  the  Cadet,  and  Wash,  were  in  favor  of  trying  the 
overland  route,  and  fighting  the  bandits,  if  necessary.  They  liked  the 
idea  of  roughing  it  through  the  interior  of  Mexico. 

The  balance  of  the  party,  however,  deemed  it  better  —  more  com- 
fortable and  more  interesting  —  to  go  back  to  El  Paso,  and  thence 
journey  by  rail  to  New  Orleans.  From  this  place  they  could  go  by 
steamer,  either  to  Vera  Cruz  direct,  or,  better  still,  go  to  Cuba  for  a 
few  weeks,  and  thence  to  Vera  Cruz.  From  Vera  Cruz  it  would  be 
an  easy  trip  by  rail  up  to  the  City  of  Mexico,  through  some  of  the 
grandest  scenery  in  the  world. 

Both  routes  had  their  obvious  advantages,  and  these  were  warmly 
urged  on  either  hand. 


86 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE    TROPICS. 


"Of  course  there  is  a  pleasure  in  journeying  all  together,"  Stein 
remarked  at  length.  "But  in  this  case  I  am  inclined  to  think  it  will 
be  best  to  divide  the  part}',  and  let  one  branch  take  one  route  and  the 

other  the  other  route.     More 

will  be  seen  so,  and  when  we 

meet  in  Mexico  there  will  be 

„  more  of  interest  to  communi- 


cate    mu- 
tually." 

This      -: 
s  u  g  g  e  s-  <-^—>- - 

tion      was  by  several  of  the  party,  but 

atfirstvig-  getting  a  start.  finally  adopted  as  being  the 

or  ou  sly  best    plan    under    the    cir- 

oppbsed  cumstances. 

The  diligencia  leaves  Chihuahua  at  nine  in  the  evening;  and  as  it 
was  already  late,  little  time  remained.  We  took  dinner  together;  and 
there  was  a  general  inspection  of  carbines,  revolvers,  and  other  acces- 


THE  START. 


87 


sories  of  stage-coaching  through  a  rough  country,  by  our  four  com- 
rades who  had  chosen  the  interior  route;   and  then  ieave-taking. 

The  diligencia  was  at  the  plaza  at  eight  o'clock.  It  took  the 
people  in  charge  of  it  an  hour  to  hitch  up  the  horses  and  mules, 
and  get  ready  for  a  start.  They  first  put  two  horses  on  the  pole;  then, 
after  ten  or  fifteen  minutes,  they  put  three  mules  abreast  ahead  of  the 
span.  Finally,  they  hitched  four  more  horses  abreast,  as  leaders  — 
nine  in  all.  The  diligencia  itself  differed  not  in  appearance  from  a 
battered  stage-coach  in  the  United  States. 

Meanwhile  our  four  comrades  procured  their  tickets,  and  took  their 
stations  on  top  of  the  coach.  "  We  will  meet  you  in  the  City  of 
Mexico,"  was  the  mutual  promise  on  both  sides. 

At  last  the  word  to  go  was  given,  ^Hoopla!  Holal  Hooi-eyl" 
Whips  cracked;  the  bystanders  yelled;  but  the  horses,  or  else  the 
mules,  balked;  and  the  whole  team  got  in  a  snarl.  The  driver 
shouted  and  lashed  the  beasts.  The  bystanders,  too,  fifty  or  sixty  in 
number,  took  a  hand  and  stoned  the  horses  on  both  sides.  The  dili- 
gencia described  a  circle  over  the  cobble-stones.  At  last  they  straight- 
ened out  and  went  off  like  a  shot,  —  "  hip,  liola,"  out  of  town  into  the 
moonlit  night.  And  that  was  the  last  we  saw  of  those  fellows  for 
many  a  day. 

The  remainder  of  the  party,  including  the  scribe,  went  back  to 
El  Paso,  and  thence  to  New  Orleans  in  three  days,  by  rail. 


CHAPTER    III. 


CHRISTMAS-TIDE  IN  NEW  ORLEANS.  HORNS  AND  POWDER-BURNING. PASSPORTS 

FOR  HAVANA. OFF  FOR  CUBA.  THE  EADS  JETTIES.  CEDAR  KEYS  AND  KEY 

WEST.  THE  FLORIDA  SHIP-CANAL. 

O  a  Northerner  New  Orleans  seems  to  be 
the  most  un-American  city  in  the  country. 
Its  quaintly-roofed  and  balconied  houses, 
with  their  tall,  green-roofed  cisterns  for 
rain-water;  its  orange  gardens;  its  droll 
little  milk-carts,  and  its  cemeteries  with 
their  streets  and  squares  of  house-shaped 
marble  tombs,  placed  high  and  dry  above 
the  black,  water-soaked  ground,  —  all  these 
and  a  hundred  other  outre  features  com- 
bine to  give  the  Crescent  City  a  character 
of  its  own,  and  to  declare  the  dissimilar 
ancestry  of  its  people. 

But  the  oddest  feature,  as  perhaps  some 
of  our  younger  readers  will  think,  is  the  manner  in  which  the  boys 
and  girls  of  New  Orleans  celebrate  Christmas;  for  with  them  Christ- 
mas is  much  like  the  Fourth  of  July  in  other  parts  of  the  country. 
They  celebrate  it  with  horns,  rockets,  torpedoes,  and,  in  short,  all  the 
powder-burning  with  which  the  national  birthday  is  commonly 
ushered  in   in  the  Northern  States. 

The  custom  of  burning  so  much  powder  —  the  symbol  of  war  and 

destruction  —  upon  the  day  on  which  Christ  was  born  strikes  one,  at 

first,  as  singularly  mal  apropos.     But  young  America  is  not  apt  to 

stickle  on  points  of  poetic  harmony;    and   after  all,  it  is  the   spirit 

88 


IIP',;:  »l7r  I 


■  I.  • 


m> 


< 
w 

« 
o 


IN  NEW  ORLEANS.  O! 

more  than  the  mere  method  of  a  celebration  which  counts.  The  spirit 
(if  it  can  in  any  way  be  estimated  by  the  noise  made)  is  certainly 
present  in  full  power.  This  year  (1882)  Christmas  Day  and  the  two 
previous  days  were  one  continual  explosion  of  fireworks,  one  con- 
stant conclamation  of  fish-horns,  bugles,  fifes,  and  every  other 
wind  instrument.  Processions  of  a  hundred,  even  three  and  four 
hundred  boys  and  men,  all  provided  with  horns  of  all  lengths  and 
degrees  of  raucity,  paraded  the  streets  and  squares,  harping  in  loud,  if 
not  solemn,  choir.  The  girls,  too,  and  even  the  young  ladies,  were 
seen  sporting  gayly-ornamented  horns.  Men  of  fifty,  with  beards 
quite  gray,  joined  in  the  general  clangor.  Dissonance  with  all  its  ear- 
splitting  horrors  reigned.  Neither  by  day  nor  night  did  the  fanfarade 
cease. 

Terrific  at  first,  one  soon  grew  accustomed  to  it;  and  when  once 
the  spirit  of  the  jollification  had  taken  possession  of  one's  mind,  the 
hubbub  attuned  itself  to  something  like  harmony.  For  it  was  plain 
to  see  that  the  children  enjoyed  it  immensely.  New  Orleans,  too,  it 
must  be  remembered,  has  from  its  dissimilar  associations  never 
entered  much  into  the  spirit  of  our  Fourth  of  July  celebrations;  and 
doubtless  the  young  people  of  every  city  must  have  at  least  one  day 
to  blow  horns  and  make  a  noise. 

On  going  to  take  tickets  for  Havana  by  the  steamer  Morgan  we 
were  told  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  proceed  thither  without 
-passports.  The  Spanish  authorities  in  Cuba  rigidly  insist  that  all 
foreigners,  Americans  in  particular,  shall  present  documents  from 
their  government  certifying  to  their  names  and  general  good  character. 
In  Mexico,  on  the  contrary,  no  passports  are  required.  The  system 
may  be  a  good  one;  but  the  motive  on  the  part  of  the  Spanish 
officials  is  no  doubt  a  purely  selfish  one.  The  tourist  is  charged  a 
fee  of  four  dollars  for  viseing  his  passport,  to  enter  the  port  of 
Havana,  and  the  same  when  he  leaves  the  island. 

Our  party  of  five  paid  a  tax  of  forty  dollars  for  the  privilege  of 


92 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE   TROPICS. 


treading  the  streets  of  their  dirty  city.  It  proved  a  great  bother,  too; 
for  neither  Karzy,  Moses,  nor  Mr.  Garland  were  provided  with  pass- 
ports from  our  government  at  the  time,  and  to  get  them  from  Wash- 
ington   would    have    required    at    least    two   weeks'   time.       In    this 


MOUTH    OF   THE    MISSISSIPPI    RIVER. 


dilemma  we  hit  on  the  expedient  of  getting  papers  which  answered 
as  passports  from  the  mayor  of  New  Orleans,  who  is  empowered  to 
issue  such  when  the  parties  are  fully  identified  before  him.  A  blank 
is  provided,  which  the  applicant  fills  out,  as  to  the  place  and  date  of 
his  birth,  his  height,  complexion,  and  general  tout  ensemble.     This  he 


DOWN  THE  MISSISSIPPI. 


93 


must  solemnly  swear  to  before  a  notary  public,  —  even  to  the  length 
of  his  nose  and  the  size  of  his  mouth !  We  had  a  jolly  time  getting 
out  these  documents,  and  nearly  frightened  Karzy  into  abandoning  the 
voyage  by  assuring  him  that  he  had  sworn  to  a  nose  an  inch  too 
short!  —  that  the  inquisitive  Dons  would  at  once  detect  the  fraud  and 
shut  him  up  in  El  Morol 

The  voyage  down  the  Mississippi  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  gave  us 
an  opportunity  to  see  the  celebrated  Eads  jetties  at  the  mouth  of  the 


JACKSONVILLE,   FLORIDA. 

great  river,  where,  by  narrowing  the  channel,  by  means  of  dikes  of 
stone  and  wicker,  the  depth  of  water  on  the  "  bar  "  has  been  increased 
from  fifteen  to  twenty-six  feet.  Much  has  been  said  and  written  as 
to  the  success  of  these  jetties.  At  present  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  they  have  accomplished  what  was  claimed  for  them  in  advance. 
Steamers  of  twenty-five  feet  draught  can  now  enter  and  leave  the 
port  of  New  Orleans. 

The   steamers  for   Havana  touch  both  at  Cedar  Keys  and    Key 
West,   Florida.      At  the   latter  place  we    passed  New  Year's    Day 


a  a  THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN   THE   TROPICS. 

amidst  a  profusion  of  flowers  and  all  tropic  fruits.  From  the  former 
point  we  made  a  flying  visit  to  Jacksonville,  and  saw  something  of 
the  proposed  route  of  the  new  ship-canal  designed  to  connect  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico  with  the  Atlantic  coast  of  Florida. 

So  much  has  been  said  and  printed  of  the  proposed  Panama  canal 
through  the  isthmus  between  North  and  South  America,  that  our 
people  have  well-nigh  forgotten  this  great  enterprise,  nearer  home, — 
one  which  will  prove  of  scarcely  less  benefit  to  the  commerce  of  the 
country. 

Forgotten,  we  say  —  for  this  Florida  canal  is  no  new  project. 
Nearly  fifty  years  since  the  justly  celebrated  Commodore  Maury  earn- 
estly advocated  the  building  of  a  canal  across  Florida;  and  several 
Presidents,  noticeably  Presidents  Pierce  and  Grant,  in  their  messages 
strongly  advised  the  building  of  such  a  canal  by  the  government. 

But  it  is  the  misfortune  of  all  proposed  public  enterprises  in  this 
country,  whether  useful  or  not,  to  be  indiscriminately  and  bitterly 
opposed  by  the  party  not  in  power,  so  that  even  needed  enterprises 
are  not  undertaken. 

A  glance  at  the  map  of  Florida  will  show  the  importance  of  such 
a  canal  to  our  domestic  commerce,  which  is  yearly  increasing  from 
Texas.  And  it  will  be  a  surprise  to  most  persons  to  know  that, 
according  to  the  estimate  of  the  New  York  Board  of  Trade,  the 
amount  of  traffic  which  annually  passes  round  the  southern  point  of 
Florida  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  is  three  times  that  which  passes 
through  the  famous  Sue?  canal,  connecting  the  Mediterranean  and 
Red  Seas. 

Nor  is  there  any  doubt  that  shippers  and  ship-owners  will  gladly 
patronize  the  new  canal.  It  will  save,  for  vessels  sailing  for  the 
mouth  of  the  Mississippi  and  the  Texas  coast,  fully  eight  hundred 
miles  of  navigation,  and  that  too  of  the  most  dangerous  navigation  in 
the  world.  The  loss  of  property  by  wrecks  along  the  Florida  coast 
and  about  its  southern  keys  has  been  estimated  at  five  million   dollars 


FLORIDA. 


95 


annually,  averaging  thus  for  twenty-five  years.     It  is  reckoned  that 
the  canal  will   lower  insurance   rates  two  per    cent  on  all  consign- 


ST.   AUGUSTINE. 


ments  and  shipping  passing  through  it,  and  effect  a  more  than  corre- 
sponding reduction  in  freights. 

The  estimated  cost  of  digging  the  canal  is  twenty  millions.  A 
company  representing  this  amount,  and  more  if  necessary,  has  been 
recently  organized  in  New  York,  and  work  will  probably  begin  dur- 
ing the  present  year. 

The  line  of  the  proposed  canal  extends  from  near  Jacksonville,  on 
the  St.  Johns  River,  directly  across  the  State,  to  a  point  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Suwanee.     The  distance  is  about  sixty  miles. 


CHAPTER    IV. 


TN    LA    HABANA. GETTING    ASHORE.  RAG    MONEY.  LA    CASA    DE    CORREOS. 

ODOR  DEL  PAIS. SPANISH  ARCHITECTURE. CUBAN    OXEN.  —  LOTTERY    TICK- 
ETS.  MOSES'       TROUBLES. STREET      THIEVES.  OUR      LODGINGS. ABOUT 

TOWN. 


HE  passage  across  the  Gulf  Stream  from  Key- 
West  to  Havana  is  apt  to  be  a  rough  one,  though 
short.  Karzy  and  the  "theolog  "  were  both  a  little 
"unhappy"  during  the  evening,  —  at  least,  they 
evinced  no  appetite  for  supper.  In  the  morning 
we  waked  to  find  the  steamer  tying-to  off  the 
entrance  of  the  harbor  of  Havana,  waiting  for 
daylight  before  running  in.  In  the  early  light 
we  had  pleasant  glimpses  of  an  old  pinkish  gray 
castle  {El  Jl/oro),  perched  high  on  a  crag  and  a 


tall 


light 


tower.       Further    out     to    the    risdit 


twinkled  the  pale  gaslights   of  the   city  suburbs. 
Karzy  expressed  the  opinion    that  the  place  had 
"a  mediaeval  look;"  but  thus  far  his  ideas  of  mediaeval  objects  have 
been  drawn  from  books  merely. 

As  soon  as  it  was  fairly  light  we  steamed  in  past  the  Moro,  enter- 
ing a  narrow  cleft  in  the  rough  coralline  coast,  lined  along  with 
batteries.  It  is  a  tortuous  entrance  betwixt  ugly  reefs,  but  opens  into 
a  handsome,  though  small  bay,  encircled  by  green  hills  on  one  side 
and  the  city  on  the  other. 

But,  though  in  harbor,  we  were  not  ashore.     The  steamer  does  not 
come  to  a  pier,  but  drops  her  anchor  out  in  the  bay,  there  to  wait  the 
96 


HAVANA. 


IN  CUBA. 


99 


pleasm-e  of  the  Spanish  authorities.  Two  or  three  boats  with  rowers 
and  officers  in  the  uniform  of  the  Aduana  (Custom-House)  soon  put 
off,  however,  and  with  them  numerous  watermen  in  their  boats,  with 
couriers  from  the  hotels,  who,  alter  the  manner  of  their  genus,  raise  a 
loud  competitive  clamor. 

The  watermen  pull  you  ashore  to  the  Custom-House,  where  you 
may  wait  an  hour  for  your  trunks  to  be  inspected  and  your  passport 
certified  ere  taking  a  coach  for  a  hotel  or  your  lodgings;  if  to  a  hotel 
you  are  there  charged  a  fee  of  two  dollars  oro  (gold)  for  "  passport," 
which  in  this  case  means  getting  you  ashore;  and  here  it  may  be  well 
to  state  that  the  terms  of  all  the  good  hotels  here  are  four  dollars  per 
day,  gold,  or  about  twice  that  sum  in  the  depreciated  paper  money  of 
Cuba.  But  it  is  a  comfort  to  know  that  a  "  greenback  "  is  worth  here 
a  little  more  than  even  Spanish  gold. 

Naturally  one  of  the  first  places  we  went  to  was  the  post-office. 
It  is  down  at  the  quay  next  to  the  Aduana,  —  a  dingy,  nondescript 
stone  structure,  over  one  of  the  portals  to  which  are  the  words  Casa 
de  Correos  (the  House  of  Mails).  The  interior  arrangements  of  this 
establishment  are  such  as  to  defy  alike  description  and  the  compre- 
hension of  a  stranger.  To  any  one  needing  to  visit  it,  allow  us  to 
suggest  the  employment  of  an  intelligent  interpreter  in  advance;  he 
and  every  other  resource  will  be  needed  before  you  can  get  a  letter 
out  of  the  concern.  Take  along  your  passport,  too,  and  as  many  of 
your  personal  friends  as  can  be  secured  for  the  trip.  Better  still, 
never  go  there  at  all,  but  by  well-written  or  printed  directions,  certifi- 
cates, etc,  contrive  to  have  your  letters  sent  to  your  hotel,  or  lodg- 
ings. But  feel  no  surprise  if  you  receive  no  letters,  much  less  news- 
papers ;  and  enjoin  your  friends  at  home  to  feel  no  alarm  if  they  get 
no  letters  from  you  while  in  Cuba.  If  a  mail-steamer  is  to  leave 
on  Thursday,  post  your  letters  for  it  Tuesday.  This  is  a  manana 
country. 

All  letters  received  here  not  directed  to  street  and  number,  instead 


IOO  THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE    TROPICS. 

of  being  put  in  an  alphabetically  arranged  stand,  are  piled  into  a  big 
drawer  or  box,  to  the  number  of  twelve  or  fifteen  thousand.  Look- 
;ng  for  one  is  a  long  business ;  and  how  carefully  the  indolent  clerks 
examine  the  box  may  be  conjectured.  If  your  letters  from  home 
have  on  them  a  three-cent  stamp  only,  you  are  charged  twenty  cents 
in  currency,  extra,  on  taking  them.  If  a  letter-carrier  brings  them  he 
may  charge  more.  Apparently  the  letter-carriers  make  what  they 
can  in  such  cases.  People  who  shriek  ""corruption!"  at  home  should 
see  how  public  business  is  done  in  Cuba,  under  the  present  regime. 
"'The  bars  are  all  down  "  here  now.  If  you  want  anything  done  you 
must  pay  for  it,  and  drive  as  good  a  bargain  as  you  can. 

As  in  Mexico,  so  here,  one  of  the  first  things  that  impresses  the 
American  tourist,  is  the  "odor  of  the  country."  It  is  everywhere, 
and  in  some  spots  it  is  awful!  The  old  town,  or  that  part  formerly 
enclosed  within  the  city  walls,  is  a  dirty  place,  with  streets  scarcely 
twenty  feet  wide,  and  sidewalks  eighteen  inches.  Indeed,  there  is  but 
one  decent  street  in  the  city,  —  the  Prado.  And  yet,  despite  these 
faults,  Havana  is  a  rather  pretty  city-.  At  first  view,  it  seemed  to  us  a 
very  white  town,  in  contrast  with  the  red  brickwork  of  Northern 
cities.  Everywhere  the  edifices  and  shops  are  white  or  perhaps  light- 
pink,  straw  color,  or  light  blue;  and  these  colors  are  much  heightened 
by  the  scorching  brightness  of  the  sun.  It  is  well  to  have  a  pair  of 
blue  spectacles. 

Then,  from  noting  the  color  of  the  buildings,  the  eye  comes  to 
notice  the  marked  difference  in  the  style  of  architecture.  Few 
edifices,  public  or  private,  are  more  than  two  stories  in  height;  yet 
they  look  spacious,  almost  palatial.  The  most  are  built  of  stone  or 
marble,  very  few  brick,  with  walls  which  in  the  United  States  would 
be  deemed  immensely  thick.  The  infrequencyT  of  fires  and  the  very 
small  losses  thereby  are  easily  understood, —  there  is  little  or  no 
woodwork;  and  when  we  consider  the  terrific  losses  by  fire  at 
home,  the  idea  suggests  itself  that  this  may  be  the  better  style  of 
architecture. 


AVENUE   OF    PALMS. 


A   BEAUTIFUL   CITY.  io^ 

In  the  narrow  streets,  one  meets  cart  after  cart,  piled  high  with 
bales  of  tobacco  leaf,  drawn  by  oxen.  Much  of  the  trucking  is  done 
by  these  patient  creatures,  which  draw  by  a  heavy  yoke  made  fast  to 
the  massive  tongue  of  the  cart  and  bound  to  the  foreheads  of  the 
poor  brutes  which  thus  push  the  load  with  their  heads,  instead  of  their 
shoulders,  as  in  the  United  States.  Each  ox  has  a  ring,  or  at  least  a 
hole,  through  his  nostril,  to  which  are  attached  strong  rope  reins; 
with  these  the  driver  on  his  cart  directs  their  movements,  not  omitting 
the  use  of  a  long  goad,  armed  with  a  sharp  spike.  Moses  feelingly 
remarks  that  if  the  doctrine  of  transmigration  be  true,  he  sincerely 
hopes  that  he  may  not  become  an  ox  in  Cuba  —  or  a  little  coach- 
horse,  either. 

About  the  first  person  we  ran  against  on  stepping  forth  from  the 
hotel  after  breakfast  was  a  man  who  had  sundry  slips  of  paper  in  his 
fingers,  and  who  saluted  us  with  a  dreary  cry  of, — 

"  Veinte  cinco  mil  pesos  manana  /" 

"  Que  dices?  "   (What  do  you  say),  demanded  Karzy. 

The  fellow  rattled  off  a  long  string  of  hazy  Spanish,  amidst  which 
we  caught  on  the  word  loteria.  Havana  is  the  paradise  of  lotteries, 
—  lotteries  every  -week.  The  venders  of  tickets  bore  you  at  every 
turn  and  corner.     "  Manana  por  la  manana  ciento  mil  pesos  I '" 

Sit  down  on  the  settees  in  front  of  the  hotel  or  at  the  "  Place  of 
Arms,"  and  an  endless  procession  of  these  persistent  vagabonds,  each 
with  his  doleful  cry,  will  file  past  you  and  thrust  the  abominable  little 
dog-eared  billets  in  your  face:  "  Cinquenta  mil  pesos,  seizor!" 
Moses  had  resort  to  his  Spanish  phrase-book,  and  extracted  from  it 
the  words  Sega  derec/io,  the  nearest  approximation  to  rrgit!"  which 
the  Spanish  language  could  furnish  him.  This  he  fired  off  continually 
at  the  loteria  venders  with  an  energy  which  often  quite  paralyzed 
them. 

But  the  Spanish  does  not  half  express  what  struggles  for  utterance 
in  Moses'  bosom,  particularly  when  a  whole  drove  of  beggars  gets 


104 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE   TROPICS. 


after    him    with    their    distracting    whine    of,    w Pobrecito  !    Pobre  ! 

pobre!" 

"It's  against  the  law  to  stamp  on  them,"  he  sighed.  "If  only  the 
rascals  knew  God's  own  language  I  could  make  them  scatter.  But 
when  I  say  c  Clear  out!  '  they  come  the  snugger." 

By  God's  own  language  Moses  means  English  —  such  as  they 
speak  in  Indiana. 

At  breakfast,  at  the  hotel,  Moses  called  out  imperatively  for  beef- 
steak. 

"  Con  mucho gusto,  sehor  "  (With  much  pleasure),  said  the  waiter. 

"No,  no!"  exclaimed  Moses,  "not  with  mucho  gusto.  I  want 
potatoes  with  it!  " 

%*  Si  seiior,  papas"  (potatoes),  responded  the  waiter. 

"Neither  papas,  nor  grandpapas!"  shouted  Moses,  "potatoes,  I 
say!" 

But  the  climax  of  our  Hoosier  comrade's  mishaps  came  the  fourth 
day  of  our  stay  in  Havana,  after  we  had  taken  lodgings  in  the  house 
of  an  old  Spanish  captain,  on  the  Prado,  where  by  good  luck  we 
succeeded  in  establishing  ourselves  quite  comfortably. 

In  Havana,  and  throughout  Spanish  America,  the  windows  of  the 
houses  are  protected  on  the  outside  by  strong  iron  gratings,  so  that 
the  robberv  of  a  room  through  the  window  would  seem  a  by  no  means 
easy  matter  to  accomplish.  Yet  the  street  thieves  here  as  elsewhere 
have  proved  fully  equal  to  the  obstacle. 

Coming-  in  tired  and  warm  from  a  ride  through  the  narrow  streets, 
Moses  threw  open  the  inner  shutters  of  his  window,  then  sat  down, 
and  tipping  back  on  his  chair  in  American  fashion  with  his  head  to 
the  wall,  presently  fell  in  a  drowse.  His  little  siesta  did  not  last  for 
more  than  fifteen  minutes,  he  thinks;  but  on  awaking  he  immediately 
perceived  that  he  had  met  with  losses. 

His  boots,  which  he  had  pulled  off  and  set  by  his  side,  had  disap- 
peared,  likewise  his  sun   umbrella.      His    travelling-bag,  too,  which 


THE  FATAL  SIESTA. 


I(K 


was  set  closed  and  locked  on  a  little  table  near  by,  stood  gaping  open; 
and  from  it  his  collar-box,  cuff-box,  handkerchief-box,  night-shirt,  and 
several    pairs    of  hose,   along   with    numerous    other    articles,    were 


missing  also. 


MOSES'   SIESTA. 


As  he  had  barred   the  folding-doors    of  his    room  before  sitting 
down,  and  as  the  inner  bar  still  remained  in  place,  the  very  visible 


IO<5  THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE    TROPICS. 

and  extensive  theft  took  the  guise  of  presdigitry,  difficult  to  explain. 
For  the  one  window  was  guarded  as  usual  with  a  grating,  through 
which  it  would  be  impossible  for  an  outsider  to  do  more  than  thrust 
in  his  hand;  and  all  the  missing  articles  had  lain  fully  two  yards 
back  from  the  window.  The  room  was  on  the  ground  floor,  how- 
ever,  and  the  window  opened  upon  a  little  side-street  not  much  fre- 
quented. 

In  great  wrath,  our  comrade  called  in  the  mozo  (house-servant), 
and  summoned  our  host,  to  whom  he  explained  by  excited  gestures 
and  some  few  random  Spanish  words,  the  evil  state  of  things. 

Very  gravely,  and  with  that  politeness  that  always  characterizes 
your  Spanish  host,  the  old  senor  proceeded  by  signs  to  express  his 
regrets  and  explain  it  all. 

Gauc/io,  ladi'on,  gauchito,  largo  baston,  engauchar,  gatada, — 
words  which,  well  illustrated  by  signs  and  movements,  portrayed  to 
our  indignant  friend,  that  the  picaroz  (street  rogues)  have  little  hooks 
on  long  sticks  with  which  they  reach  in  betwixt  the  iron  bars  and 
successfully  plunder  a  room,  drawing  out  the  articles  one  by  one,  and 
even  turning  the  keys  of  trunks  and  wardrobes.  In  fact,  these 
rogues,  —  often  little  black  boys,  —  if  unmolested,  will  in  a  few  min- 
utes completely  despoil  a  room;  and  from  some  current  stories  which 
we  heard  of  their  skill  I  fancy  that  our  comrade  was  rather  fortunate 
in  not  having  his  coat  unbuttoned  and  his  pocket-book  hooked ! 
hooked,  indeed ! 

It  is  a  mistake  for  tourists  at  Havana,  or  in  any  other  country 
which  they  really  wish  to  see  or  learn  anything  of,  to  remain  at  the 
hotels.  First-class  hotels  are  so  cosmopolitan  in  character,  and  so 
much  alike  the  world  over,  that  life  in  one,  for  more  than  a  day  or 
two,  grows  inexpressibly  dreary.  We  were  fortunate  enough  to 
obtain  lodgings  in  a  private  family,  where  we  had  cool  rooms,  decent 
beds,  —  decent  for  Cuba,  —  and  a  very  good  table.  In  Cuba  one  must 
not  look   for   a  colchon    (mattress)    on    his   bed.     We  were   told   in 


EXPERIENCES.  !  Qj 

advance  that  we  should  find  no  good  beef.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  we 
found  the  beef  excellent;  nor  was  the  mantequilla  (butter)  so  bad 
as  it  had  been  pictured;  it  was  not  "  gilt-edged,"  but  fairly  good.  In 
addition  to  our  other  comforts,  we  had,  in  our  old  Spanish  captain,  a 
most  enjoyable  host,  who  spent  hours  trying  to  teach  us  his  language 
—  and  all,  as  some  may  like  to  know,  for  twelve  dollars  per  week. 
From  this  haven  of  comfort,  which  very  soon  came  to  seem  like  home, 
we  "went  forth  daily,  to  see  the  city,  making  excursions  to  Matanzas, 
Vedado  Guines,  and  many  other  points,  visiting  the  neighboring 
ingenios  (sugar-plantations),  the  suburban  villa  and  gardens  of  the 
Captain-General,  and  the  grim  old  fortress  across  the  bay. 


CHAPTER    V. 

A    PRIMITIVE    MILK-CART.  KARZY's    TOOTHACHE.  HE    GOES    IN     SEARCH    OF    A 

DENTISTA. DENTIST'S     FEES     IN     HAVANA.  THE     HORSE     BATHS. HARBOR 

SHARKS.- AN  INCIDENT "UN  TIBURON." WAYSIDE    "JOHNS." THE  GRAVE 

OF    COLON. 


MILK,  called  for  by  many  names  in  many  lands, 
is  an  article  of  food  everywhere  sold,  and  various 
indeed  are  the  kinds  of  milk-carts  in  which  it 
is  peddled  out. 

The  express-wagon  with  its  load  of  tin  cans, 
so  familiar  an  object  in  our  Northern  cities,  is  a 
sufficiently  business-like  contrivance  to  suit  the 
most  utilitarian  ideas. 

In  New  Orleans,  the  milk-cart  is  a  more  pictu- 
resque vehicle,  being  a  quaint  little  two-wheeled 
gig  with  a  pair  of  urn-like  cans,  often  ornamented 
with  a  fancy  cap  in  brass,  in  front.  Each  can  has 
a  spigot  and  a  measure  chained  to  it,  and  both  do  not  contain  more 
than  seven  or  eight  gallons.  Behind  the  cans  is  the  milkman's  little 
seat,  protected  from  the  hot  sun-rays  by  a  slight  cover;  a  very  quaint 
old-time  rig  of  those  bizarre  creole  days  which  Mr.  Cable  has  done 
so  much  to  render  interesting. 

In  Mexico,  your  milkman  comes  around  and  rides  in  at  your 
front  door  with  his  cans  bagged  up  in  coarse  cloth  and  slung  across 
the  back  of  a  sorry  little  burro  (donkey),  while  he  sits  triumphantly 
perched  on  a  pad  betwixt  them,  lazily  crying  out,  "  Lec/ie,  leche 
fresca  I " 

p.  1 08 


HAVANA. 


THE  MILK-CART. 


I  I  I 


In  the  streets  of  Havana,  the  backs  of  the  donkeys,  mules,  and 
little  horses  also  serve  as  milk-carts,  save  where  the  milkman  makes 
a  still  shorter  cut  at  business,  and  drives  the  vacas  (cows)  them- 
selves round  to  the  doors,  where  he  milks  the  universal  fluid  into 
your  own  quart  dish,  to  suit  your  pleasure.  This  method  has  at  least 
the  advantage  of  relieving  him  of  the  temptation  to  water  his  milk. 
We  commend  it  to  all  those  dispensers  of  lacteal  aliment  in  our  North- 
ern cities  who  feel  themselves  aggrieved  by  unjust  suspicions;  it 
is  a  method  that  admits  of  no  aspersions. 


MILK-CART. 


At  our  house  in  Havana  there  used  to  come,  every  morning,  a 
large  vaca,  —  looking  very  much  like  one  of  the  largest  Jerseys, 
though  of  Cuban  breed,  —  bringing  her  own  milk  in  an  odd-shaped 
can  hanging  on  one  side  of  her  back,  balanced  on  the  other  side  by  a 


112  THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE    TROPICS. 

roll  of  sweet  cane  stalks,  —  this  latter  provision  looking  much  like  a 
luncheon  for  the  trip.  Behind  her  toddled  her  little  calf,  with  his 
nose  securely  trussed  up  to  prevent  his  injudicious  inroads  upon  the 
stock  in  trade.  And  still  further  behind  came  a  young  negro,  whose 
humble  cry  of  "  Leche,  leche,  veinte  coitavos  el  vasof"  was  at  first 
our  only  key  to  this  business. 

The  idea  of  a  ccrt^  going  about  peddling  her  own  milk,  was  so 
amusing  to  Karzy  that  he  used  to  get  up  ever)-  morning  at  seven 
o'clock  to  look  out  and  laugh  at  the  spectacle. 

"It  is  like  these  lazy  fellows!  "  he  would  exclaim.  "I  would  not 
be  surprised  to  see  that  poor  cow  come  along  bringing  the  veal  of 
her  calf  to-morrow !  " 

Veinte  centavos  (twenty  cents)  for  a  glass  of  milk!  The  Spanish 
captain  with  whom  we  lodged  was  obliged  to  pay  eighty  cents  paper 
(about  forty-three  cents  gold)  a  quart  for  the  milk  which  he  offered 
us  as  a  luxury  (and  no  wonder)  for  our  coffee.  Some  American 
milkmen  might  do  well  to  settle  in  the  suburbs  of  Havana;  or,  per- 
haps ere  long,  some  enterprising  fellow  in  the  North  may  send  milk 
here  by  steamer  in  sealed  cans  packed  in  ice.  There  ought  to  be  a 
fortune  in  that  venture. 

Havana,  too,  should  be  a  good  city  for  some  of  our  numerous 
young  American  dentists  to  settle  in.  We  judge  so,- — at  least  from 
an  experience  of  Karzy's,  which  he  had  best  be  permitted  to  tell  in 
his  own  way,  as  follows:  — 

"  A  few  Aveeks  ago,  while  at  Havana,  it  was  my  misfoitune  to  be 
overtaken  by  that  old,  old  malady,  toothache,  or,  in  the  language  of 
the  country,  dolor  de  muelas. 

"And  it  was  very  much  dolor,  indeed! 

"  But  the  tooth  was  a  good  and  a  serviceable  one,  or,  at  least,  had 
been  so.  I  disliked  to  part  with  it.  Three  days  we  strove  together. 
One  grieves  to  part  from  old  friends,  even  when  their  behavior  has  of 
late  become  outrageous;  for  we  cling  to  the  good  there  was  formerly 
in  them. 


AT  THE  DENTIST'S.  XIc 

"But  the  case  grew  hopeless.  Forbearance  ceased  utterly  to  be  a 
virtue,  —  rather  a  disgrace.  I  arose  very  early,  —  early  for  Havana, 
nine  o'clock,  —  and  sallied  desperately  forth  to  find  a  dentist,  ahora, 
instantly. 

"  Near  the  Hotel  Pasaje  (pronounced  pah-sah'-hee)  I  discovered 


DENTISTA 
CIRJURIA-DENTAL. 


which  dolor  de  muelas  enabled  me  to  translate  as  dentist  and  dental 
surgery.  Entering  beneath  a  high-arched  portal,  and  climbing  a  lofty 
stairway,  I  found  myself  in  a  spacious  anteroom,  with  brilliantly  stained 
windows,  where  sat  two  black  mustachioed  seizors,  who  received  me 
with  grave  politeness.  One  was  in  uniform,  and  wore  a  sword;  but 
this,  in  Havana,  is  not  unusual.  At  least  every  second  man  you  meet 
is  in  uniform,  and  many  of  them  carry  not  only  a  sword,  but  a  revol- 
ver and  a  musket  with  a  sabre  bayonet,  and  would  no  doubt  carry  a 
cannon,  but  for  the  weight.  Soldiers,  everywhere  soldiers.  Todos 
soldados!  Since  the  Cuban  rebellion,  Spain  keeps  a  garrison  of  at 
least  thirty  thousand  in  Havana  alone. 

I  was  asked  to  sit  down  to  wait  my  turn,  as  I  succeeded  in  com- 
prehending :  a  young  seiiorita  was  ahead  of  me  as  a  candidate  for 
the  operation  of  estraccion  de  una  muela,  —  three  muelas,  in  fact.  I 
waited  ten  minutes,  perhaps,  encouraged  and  strengthened  in  my  pur- 
pose by  the  terrific  screams  of  the  seiiorita  upon  whom  estraccion 
was  in  progress,  in  the  room  beyond. 

"At  length  the  seizors  of  the  anteroom  rose  and  ushered  me  into 
the  salon  de  estraccio?i,  where  I  found  the  operator,  an  alert  young 
gentleman  of  twenty-three  or  four,  who  said,  '  I  spik  Ingles;  I  was 
catorce  year  in  Nueva  York.' 


n6  THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE   TROPICS. 

:r  Thus  encouraged,  I  said,  '  I  wish  to  have  a  tooth  extracted.  It 
is  the  extreme  back  tooth  of  the  lower  jaw,  upon  the  left  side.' 

"  But  this  was  not  the  kind  of  c  Inglis  '  which  the  operator  f  spik,' 
evidently,  and  we  made  no  apparent  progress  with  each  other,  until  I 
opened  my  mouth,  and  with  my  finger  carefully  indicated  (for  I 
wanted  no  mistakes  made)  the  exact  tooth  which  I  wished  to  part  com- 
pany with.  My  new  friend  then  got  to  work,  and  performed  his  pain- 
ful offices  without  loss  of  time  and  in  good  style,  so  far  as  I  observed. 

"'And  now  the  fee?'  I  said,  rising.     *  J^ue  flrecio?  ' 

" 5  Cinco  pesos,  —  fife  tollar,'  was  the  reply. 

:r  This  is  about  two  dollars  seventy  cents  in  gold  for  a  single 
estraccion,  and  I  am  told  that  some  dentistas  here  charge  four  dol- 
lars, gold,  for  the  same  brief  service." 

Throughout  the  city,  the  horses,  particularly  the  poor  little  horses 
which  run  up  and  down  all  da)'  long,  drawing  the  hundreds  of  street- 
coaches,  have  a  hot  and  hard  lot;  but  every  morning  the  most  of 
them  are  permitted  to  enjoy  a  luxury  unknown  to  Northern  horses,  — 
a  bath  in  the  sea. 

Down  at  the  end  of  the  Prado,  the  chief  avenue  for  driving  and 
walking,  where  this  fine  broad  avenue  opens  out  upon  the  entrance 
to  the  harbor,  there  is  a  favorable  place  for  these  horse-baths;  and 
here,  from  seven  to  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,  long  files  of  horses  — 
the  halter  of  each  tied  to  the  tail  of  the  next  in  advance,  and  the  fore- 
most ridden  by  a  negro  cochero  —  may  be  seen  trooping  into  the  cool 
water.  It  is  a  picturesque  sight,  and  a  very  picturesque  place,  to  stand 
by  the  parapet,  just  beyond  the  great  Presidio.  Directly  across  the 
narrow  entrance  to  the  port  (no  more  than  two  hundred  metres  in 
breadth)  tower  the  yellow  and  white  walls  of  El  Moro  and  the 
lighthouse.  Out  past  it  the  shining  waters  of  the  gulf  brighten 
and  glow  in  the  morning  sunshine.  Back  to  the  right  opens  the 
fine  haven  full  of  shipping,  long  black  and  red  steamers  (vapores), 
and  one  or  two  fine  ironclad   rams  moored  to  red  buoys ;    a  won- 


A   TROPICAL   SCENE. 


HORSES  BATHING. 


II9 


derfully  good  harbor,  rent   by   nature   into   the    solid    ledges   of  this 
rocky  coast. 

The  horses  love  the  bath.  It  is  the  one  bit  of  luxury  in  all  their 
hard  lives.  They  are  allowed  to  remain  in  the  water  fifteen  minutes 
or  more.  Some  will  be  seen  to  lie  down  in  it,  regardless  of  their 
noses.  Others  stand  with  raised  heads,  the  wavelets  just  break- 
ing over  their  backs.     Fine  spans  belonging  to  the  Spanish  magnates 


i3^0 


HORSES    BATHING. 


are  led  in  and  groomed  in  the  water  for  a  long  time,  the  black  cocliero 
talking  lovingly  to  them  all  the  while.  Some  very  handsome  horses 
from  the  United  States  are  sold  here  to  the  wealthy  classes.  In  the 
handsome  marble  house  of  a  grandee  you  will  see  three  or  four  tall, 
sleek,  splendidly-lodged  horses  and  several  fine  carriages  on  the  first 
floor,  while  the  family  live  up  stairs. 

The  native  horses  and  mules  are  all   sorry  little  animals  of  very 


I2o  THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE    TROPICS.     ■ 

poor  paces.  They  seem  loath  to  come  out  of  the  cool  water  to  begin 
their  day  of  toil;  but  standing  in  the  water,  their  enjoyment  is  a 
pleasant  thing  to  see.  We  went  morning  after  morning  to  watch  them, 
and  at  length  we  witnessed  a  far  livelier  scene  there. 

The  harbor  of  Havana,  from  time  immemorial,  has  been  infested 
by  sharks,  some  of  them  of  very  large  size.  These  have  never 
been  molested,  since  the)'  act  as  scavengers  for  refuse  meat  and  other 
unsavory  matters  which  might  otherwise  contaminate  the  basin. 
Nevertheless,  it  might  be  a  serious  matter  to  tumble  overboard  from 
a  boat,  if  some  of  these  white-bellied  gentiy  chance  to  be  cruising 
near  by.  An  incident  is  told  of  an  American  captain  of  a  bark, 
who  chanced  to  be  in  port  some  years  ago,  when  Havana  was  a  more 
lawless  place  than  at  present. 

The  captain,  a  New  Englander,  had  concluded  his  business  on 
shore  late  one  afternoon,  and  going  down  to  the  qua)7,  stepped  into  a 
waterman's  boat  and  bade  the  man  take  him  off  to  his  vessel',  which 
lay  out  in  the  harbor. 

He  had,  as  the  result  of  his  trading  in  port,  a  heavy  bag  of  silver 
dollars,  which  he  placed  by  his  side  in  the  stern  of  the  boat.  It  was 
getting  dusk,  and  when  they  were  about  half  way  off  to  the  bark, 
the  boatman,  a  dark-visaged,  brawny  fellow,  quietly  unshipped  his 
oars,  and  drawing  a  loner  gleaming:  sheath-knife  from  a  belt  beneath 
his  open  shirt,  sprang  upon  the  American  to  murder  him. 

The  captain  was  unarmed,  but  seeing  the  man's  movement,  he 
jumped  up  from  his  seat,  and  at  the  same  time  gave  so  convulsive  a 
jerk  at  the  pintle,  or  handle  of  the  rudder,  that  it  came  off  in  his  hand, 
and  he  thus  most  unexpectedly  found  himself  in  possession  of  a  stick 
a  yard  long  and  as  thick  as  his  arm.  The  would-be-assassin  raised 
his  knife  to  strike,  but  ere  his  arm  could  descend,  the  pintle-stick 
descended  on  his  skull  with  such  force  as  to  tumble  him  at  full  length 
backwards  in  the  bottom  of  his  boat.  But  as  he  showed  signs  of 
getting  up,  the  captain  seized  him  by  the  legs  and  threw  him  over- 


THE  SHARK. 


121 


board,  thinking  he  could  best  make  terms  with  so  murderous  a  rascal 
outside  the  boat.  His  body  had  hardly  struck  the  water,  however, 
when  our  American  saw,  to  his  horror,  a  huge  shark  rise  close  along- 


J- 

-  ^ 

~~~~ .        —  — 

"z—A 

— — ~r~~ 

•  jsH 

J5E3 

~--JH 

ATTEMPTED   ASSASINATION. 


side.  Slowly  turning  up  ten  or  twelve  feet  of  white  belly  in  the  twi- 
light, the  tiburon  paid  his  respects  to  the  -picarro  waterman,  whom 
he  took  in  charge  without  comments  or  trouble  of  police. 

Occasionally  a  shark,  poising  further  out  in  the  channel,  will  make 
a  sudden  rush  at  the  horses  or  at  the  cocheros  in  the  waters. 

Upon  the  morning  above  alluded  to  there  arose  a  sudden  cry 
of,- 

"  Un  tiburon!    Un  tiburon  I  " 

And  out  where  a  long  file  of  horses  were  moving  slowly,  up  to 
their  backs,  we  saw  one  kicking,  plunging,  squealing. 

The  animal  fell  and  went  under.  In  an  instant  the  whole  troop 
was  in  disorder,  all  making  frantic  plunges  toward  the  shore. 


I22  THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE    TROPICS. 

In  a  minute  the  whole  place  was  astir.  From  all  sides  came  run- 
ning watermen,  soldiers,  police,  slaves,  cocheros,  —  everybody!  And 
such  a  babel  of  shouts  arose  as  even  to  drown  the  tremendous  squeals 
of  the  poor  horse  as  his  head  struggled  up  to  the  surface. 

Boats  put  out,  the  watermen  whooping  and  striking  the  water 
heavily  with  the  flat  of  their  long  oars.  And  either  alarmed  by  the 
noise,  or  because  he  had  found  the  horse's  legs  a  less  palatable  morsel 
than  he  had  anticipated,  the  tiburon  let  go  his  hold  and  made  off. 

The  horse  was  drawn  out  and  led  limping  off  to  the  stables,  both 
its  hind  legs  much  lacerated. 

Formerly,  the  Chinese  were  the  most  stay-at-home  people  in  the 
world.  They  kept  exclusively  within  their  own  land,  and  neither 
went  abroad  themselves  nor  would  allow  foreigners  to  come  to  them. 
This  had  been  the  national  spirit  for  centuries. 

But  within  the  last  half  century,  still  more  within  the  last  ten 
years,  a  very  marked  and  a  very  singular  change  has  occurred  in  this 
ancient  habit  of  life.  The  Chinese  are  now  the  greatest  emigrants 
in  the  world.  Even  the  globe-tramping  Irishman  is  distanced  at 
length. 

Travel  where  you  will,  whether  to  the  icy  mountain  fastnesses  of 
British  Columbia,  or  the  mangrove  swamps  of  Honduras;  to  the 
West  Indies,  Brazil,  or  some  unpronounceable  city  of  Cossacks, 
the  odds  are,  that  the  first  hour  of  your  arrival  will  be  rendered 
homelike  by  a  glimpse  of  "John's"  tunic,  serious  simple  face,  and 
laced  up  pig-tail,  moving  soberly  up  a  street,  or  round  a  corner. 

And  everywhere,  in  all  tongues,  the  same  cry  is  raised  against 
him:  "  He  works  all  the  time,  gets  all  he  can  for  it,  spends  nothing, 
and  departing  leaves  nothing  behind  him,  —  not  even  his  bones." 

Such  economy  is  not  popular.  The  -world  seems  to  prefer  the 
Irishman,  —  who  works  as  little  as  he  can,  spends  all  he  gets,  begs, 
tramps,  and  leaves  his  body  to  be  buried  in  situ,  at  the  expense  of 
the  town. 


JOHN  CHINAMAN. 


At  heart,  we  find  poor  brother  "John  "  much  like  all  the  rest  of 
us.  We  smile  at  his  ever-serious  phiz  and  his  carefully-treasured  up 
pig-tail.  But  this  pig-tail  he  is  compelled  by  law  to  keep;  and  which 
of  us  who  had  mortgaged  his  father  and  mother  (a  mortgage  which,  if 
foreclosed,  would  assign  them 
to  slavery)  to  get  money  to 
go  into  a  distant  land,  there 
to  brave  all  the  uncertainties 
and  hardships  of  a  life  of  toil 
among  foreigners,  —  which 
of  us,  I  repeat,  under  such 
hard  lines,  would  not  look 
serious?  Should  we  not  be 
apt  to  be  diligent,  saving,  and 
inclined  to  keep  what  we 
could? 

Of  all  the  foreign  lands 
into  which  "John"  wanders, 
seeking  for  either  fame  or 
fortune,  the  most  luckless 
place  in  all  the  world,  per- 
haps, at  present  is  Cuba. 
For  while  in  most  lands 
times    are    now    fairly    good, 

here  a  blight  has  fallen.  Times  are  dull,  inexpressibly  dull,  and 
all  the  "Johns "  here  are  stranded,  —  stuck  fast.  The  poor  fel- 
lows cannot  even  scrape  together  enough  of  the  depreciated  paper 
to  get  away  on.  It  is  of  no  use,  either,  for  a  Chinaman  to  go 
home  unless  he  has  earned  money;  so  here  they  are,  as  forlorn 
and  as  utterly  "  broke "  a  class  of  beings  as  can  well  be  pictured. 
The  habitual  seriousness  of  their  faces  has  here  taken  on  a  shade 
of    gloom    not    seen    in    other   cities.       But   they    never    loaf;     even 


IN    EVERY   LAND. 


124 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE   TROPICS. 


when  there  is  nothing  to  do,  they  go  steadily  and  soberly  up  and  down 
with  an  empty  laundry  basket.  Here  you  will  see  one  selling  a  few 
bits  of  dusty  candy.  Presently  one  calls  at  the  house  with  two  or 
three  Chinese  pictures  in  cheap  frames,  for  which  he  asks  unheard-of 
prices,  or  perhaps  he  has  a  few  odd  Chinese  articles  which  it  is  easy 
to  see  are,  or  were,  his  private  personal  property.  It  has  come  to 
that  with  the  poor  boy.  A  few  find  work  at  breaking  stone  for  the 
street  in  the  Prado. 


JOHN    CHINAMAN. 

But  I  cannot  hear  that  they  ever  beg,  though  beggars  are  as  com- 
mon as  dogs.  They  do  not  readily  learn  Spanish.  Most  of  them 
know  a  little  English,  and  brighten  at  the  sound  of  an  English  word, 
as  if  it  calls  to  mind  better  times  in  the  States.  To  one  breaking  stone 
in  the  hot  sun  with  a  heavy  hammer  Moses  saidj  "  How  do,  John? 
You  go  to  California?"  The  rare  smile  that  lit  up  his  sad  face  was  a 
sight,  indeed!  But  it  soon  faded  out.  "  No  got  money,"  he  replied, 
and  shook  his  head. 

How  far  off  and  how  utterly  hopeless  must  his  Chinese  home  and 
all  the  dear  objects  there  look  to  this  poor  world-waif! 


COLUMBUS. 


125 


And  in  that  Chinese  home  what  hopes  may  be  hanging  on 
this  unpromising  castaway! 

Indeed,  but  for  certain  prejudices  which  we  can  hardly  rise 
superior  to,  we  should  find  the  most  genuine  tragedies  of  the  age 
in  the  homely  affairs  of  these  wayside  "Johns." 

An  American  is  so  accustomed  to  think  of  Columbus  as  the 
grand  discoverer  of  the  New 
World  —  his  world  —  that  for  a 
moment  he  feels  like  resenting 
the  exclusive  claim  of  this  not 
over-clean  and  badly-governed 
city  of  Havana  to  the  guardian- 
ship of  his  ashes. 

It  seems  odd  to  hear  him  spoken 
of  as  Colon,  and  find  his  grave  in 
a  Catholic  church  here.  Colum- 
bus—  or  Cristobal  Colon,  as  we 
must  call  him  in  Cuba  —  died  in 
Santo  Domingo,  or  Hayti;  but  his 
remains  were  subsequently  re- 
moved to  the  Cathedral  in  Havana, 
where,  beneath  a  pillar  within  the 
altar,  they  now  repose.  Properly 
proud  are  the  Havanese  Spanish 
of  their  great  fellow-countryman 
by  adoption,  whose  last  resting-place  is  with  them. 

Beneath  a  rather  doubtful  bust  of  the  great  discoverer,  a  marble 
tablet,  set  in  the  pillar,  is  inscribed  with  the  following  characteristically 
Spanish  epitaph  in  the  old-time  dialect  of  Castile:  — 

"  O,  restos  y  ymagen  del  grande  Colon!  Mil  siglos  durad 
guardado  en  la  uma  y  en  la  remembranza  de  nueslra  nation?'' 

"O  remains   and   likeness   of  great    Columbus!     Let  a  thousand 


CHINESE   AT   HIS    DEVOTIONS. 


126 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE    TROPICS. 


centuries  hold  thee  guarded  sacredly  in  thy  urn  and  in  the  memory  of 
our  nation." 

More  correct  to  life,  it  is  said,  is  the  statue  of  Columbus  in   the 
■patio  of  the  captain-general's  palace,  a  few  squares  away.     Here  his 


RELICS    OF    COLUMBUS. 


hand  points  to  a  globe  (that  globe  which  he  was  persecuted  for 
believing  to  be  round  and  not  flat!)  and  a  chart.  The  head  and  face 
are  those  of  a  man  forty-five  or  fifty  years  of  age;  and  the  countenance 


RELICS  OF  COLUMBUS,  I2y 

indicates  a  certain  pathetic  faith  and  purpose,  half  buried  and  struggling 
beneath  tides  on  tides  of  trouble.  One  cannot  for  a  moment  look 
upon  that  face  and  believe  that  the  life  of  this  man  was  a  happy  one 
—  rather  that  he  suffered  from  first  to  last;  from  the  day  he  first  set 
forth  to  raise  funds  for  his  ridiculed  expedition  to  that  last  hour 
in  Santo  Domingo,  when  his  noble  life  expired  beneath  ingratitude 
and  malice. 

Such  a  face  is  a  silent  and  lasting  reproach  to  the  age  which   it 
looked   upon. 


CHAPTER   VI. 


CARNIVAL.  A     FIRE     IN     HAVANA.  ABOUT      CUBA.  MATANZAS.  CUEVA     DE 

BELLAMAR. AT    AN    INGENIO. CAPTURING    A    MAJA. THE    CUBAN    WAR.  

A    TRAGIC    INCIDENT.  IN    AN    OLD    MOLASSES    HOGSHEAD. 


E  chanced  to  be  in  Havana  during  the  carnival 
season,  and  witnessed  the  ludicrous  turnouts 
and  processions  at  the  Prado  on  the  three 
consecutive  Sabbaths  preceding  Lent;  but 
these  carnival  crazes  have  been  so  often 
depicted  that  the  reader's  good  humor  need 
not  be  taxed  with  the  details  of  these  mas- 
querades. 

On  the   night  of  the  30th  of  January  we 
were  witnesses  of  the  great  fire  on  the  Prado, 
Y'T    where  a  hundred    and    twenty  firemen   were   disabled. 
Fires  are  of  rare  occurrence  in  Havana.     This  one  origi- 
nated in  an  American  livery  stable, —  a  tinder-box,   as  usual,  —  and 
was  thence  communicated  to  some  extensive  lumber-yards. 

In  a  Northern  city  such  a  "blaze"  would  be  thought  of  no  great 
consequence;  but  here  it  created  a  scene  of  terror  and  distress  not 
easily  imagined;  and  the  bomber os  (firemen),  of  feeble  physique, 
and  unused  to  such  exertion,  dropped  down  by  the  dozen.  For  a 
week  little  else  than  the  fire  and  the  "heroic  "  firemen  were  talked  of 
throughout  the  city. 

Previous  to  this,  however,  we  had  visited  Guines  and  Matanzas, 
and  at  the  latter  city  were  present  at  the  grand  ball  which  concluded 
the  International  Exposition  held  there. 

12S 


CUBAN  SCENERY. 


129 


Of  other  Cuban  towns  and  of  Cuban  scenery  in  general  there  is 
little  need  to  make  mention.     Journeying  in  Cuba  is  a  tiresome  busi- 
ness at  best,  whether  by  rail  or  on  horseback,  unless,  in  the  latter  case, 
it  is  made  during  a  few 
hours  of  the  early  morn- 
ing, before  the  scorching 
heats  of  midday.     The 
railway  cars  are  all  what 
we  term  at  home  sec- 
ond-class cars,  with  bad 
springs  and  hard  seats. 
The  windows  are  neces- 
sarily all  open,  and  the 
dust,  smoke,  and  heat  are 
unusually  troublesome. 

The  cave  of  Bella- 
mar,  near  Matanzas,  is, 
perhaps,  the  most  won- 
derful natural  curiosity 
of  Cuba.  And  even 
after  one  has  seen 
the  Mammoth  Cave  of 
Kentucky  and  the  great 
bat-caves  of  Texas,  he 
will  still  find  Bellamar 

worth  a  visit.     It   is    situated   two    miles   out  of  Matanzas — just  a 
good  early  morning  walk  for  an  American,  after  coffee. 

Like  nearly  all  the  remarkable  caverns  of  the  world,  this  cueva  is 
in  a  limestone  foundation  —  a  part  of  that  odd,  dome-shaped  range 
which  years  ago  our  Northern  skippers,  voyaging  to  Cuba  after  molasses 
and  rum,  named  the  "Bread  of  Matanzas"  (£1  Pau  de  Matanzas), 
because,  seen  from  the  sea,  it  resembles  a  row  of  bread-loaves. 


GATHERING    PALMS. 


I?0  THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE   TROPICS. 

The  way  to  it  lies  beside  the  bay,  then  up  a  steep  hill,  with 
tine  scenery  on  both  sides;  and  the  entrance  to  the  cave  is  in  the 
midst  of  a  small  clearing,  on  a  perfectly  flat  limestone  plateau. 

They  tell  us  that  it  was  accidently  discovered  by  a  former  owner 
who  was  breaking  out  stone  for  his  lime-kiln.  On  a  sudden  the  rock 
sank  away  beneath  his  blows,  and  he  found,  to  his  amazement,  that  he 
had  a  tremendous  hole  on  his  hands. 

After  a  time  he  ventured  down  into  it,  and  was  astonished  still  more 
to  find  how  large  it  was,  and  what  beautiful  stalactites  hung  from  the 
roofs  of  the  many  "rooms"  and  passages.  These,  as  in  the  great 
limestone  caverns  of  the  United  States,  are  formed  by  the  infiltration 
of  the  water  through  the  strata  of  lime  rock  above.  Many  of  these 
beautiful  glistening  marble  icicles  are  not  less  than  thirty  feet  in 
length.  They  stand  singly  and  in  groups,  often  fantastically  twined 
together,  some  semi-transparent,  some  of  a  pinkish  hue,  others  dead 
white. 

Further  on  great  areas  of  the  roof  sparkle  with  densely-packed 
spikelets,  bright  as  glass.  Wonderful  is  the  variety  and  beauty  of  the 
different  mazes  of  this  dark  labyrinth,  —  a  beauty  which  the  torches 
of  the  guide  but  dimly  reveal. 

Stein  took  the  liberty  of  suggesting  to  the  proprietor  that  an  elec- 
tric light  would  produce  beautiful  effects;  but  some  American  had 
already  sold  him  a  gasoline  apparatus,  which  he  had  used  for  a  time 
and  taken  out,  because  the  smoke  from  it  was  ruining  the  stalactites, 
and  he  did  not  take  kindly  to  the  hint. 

The  various  rooms  and  passages  have  been  named,  as  in  Mammoth 
Cave.  We  find  the  "  Catedral?  the  «  Rotunda,"  the  "  Devil's  Mouth," 
the  "  Bct7io  de  la  Ame?'icafia" — "Bath  of  the  American  Lady," — so 
called  because  one  of  our  fellow-countrywomen  who  visited  the  cave 
was  so  fascinated  by  the  beauty  of  the  room  and  the  crystal  purity  of 
the  pools  of  water  on  one  side,  beneath  the  stalactites,  that  she  insisted 
on  being  left  in  it  to  take  a  bath. 


IN  THE   CAVE.  jgj 

Perchance  she  fancied  that  the  fable  of  the  fountain  of  youth  might 
be  true  after  all,  and  that  this  pool  was  the  place  of  magic  waters. 

Then  we  come  to  the  "  Indian  Woman's  Path"  and  the  "  Hall  of  the 
Twelve  Apostles,"  the  "Grotto  of  the  Monkey,"  and  the  K  Senora's 
Boudoir,"  where  we  see,  in  pure  white  stone,  the  form  of  a  lady. 

These  subterranean  salons  have  been  explored  to  a  distance  of  a 
mile  and  a  half  from  the  entrance.  The  present  owner  has  provided 
very  comfortable  and  safe  facilities  for  seeing  the  cave;  and  the  price 
—  one  dollar  —  is  by  no  means  unreasonable. 

Not  so  reasonable,  however,  are  the  charges  of  Matanzas  cocheros 
for  driving  a  visitor  out  to  the  cave;  and  we  would  respectfully  hint 
to  all  tourists  of  an  economical  turn  of  mind,  to  imitate  our  example, 
and  make  the  trip  on  foot  between  the  hours  of  half  past  six  and  nine 
in  the  morning. 

While  stopping  over  night  at  an  ingenio  (sugar-mill)  near  Matan- 
zas, we  were  awakened  early  in  the  morning  by  an  uproarious  outcry 
in  a  neighboring  pig.  hovel,  where  were  ten  or  twelve  little  porkers,  not 
yet  a  month  old;  and  immediately  we  heard  the  negroes  shouting, — 

"  Jkfaj'a,  Afaj'a!"  (pronounced  mah-hali). 

"  It  is  a  great  snake,  —  a  pig-snake !  "  exclaimed  the  young  engineer 
with  whom  we  were  stopping,  and  who  had  been  engaged  for  some 
weeks  at  the  ingenio  putting  in  afornalla,  or  furnace,  for  consum- 
ing the  green  begasse  of  the  sugar-cane  for  fuel.  "  Come  out,  and  we 
will  see  some  fun!  " 

We  threw  on  coats,  hats,  and  boots,  and  hastening  forth  saw  ten  or 
a  dozen  negroes  gathering  round  the  pig  hovel,  some  with  machetes 
(cane-cutters),  some  with  fornalla  pokers,  while  others  were  bring- 
ing several  of  those  large,  long  lines,  such  as  the  teamsters  here  pass 
through  holes  in  the  nostrils  of  the  poor  draught  oxen  to  rein  and 
guide  them  by. 

The  squeals  had  ceased,  but  the  maja  was  still  in  the  pig  hovel; 
so,  at  least,  we  judged  from  the  stealthy  movements  of  the  negroes, 


!32  THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE   TROPICS. 

who  were  carefully  pressing  the  gate  together  and  stopping  up  several 
gaps  in  the  palings  with  bits  of  board  and  thick  banana  stalks. 

Then  a  great  jabbering  in  their  nigeon  Spanish  followed,  —  probably 
as  to  the  best  method  of  getting  out  the  serpent.  Seeing  that  they 
had  hit  on  a  plan,  we  stood  and  watched  their  motions.  Two  stal- 
wart mulattoes  took  one  of  the  long  ropes  and  made  an  open  noose 
at  the  middle  of  it.  Another  openeu  the  gate  of  the  hovel  a  little 
way,  guarding  the  crack,  however,  with  a  piece  of  board.  The 
two  with  the  noose  then  fixed  it  with  forked  sticks  in  front  of  the 
crack  of  the  gate,  the  bottom  of  it  resting  on  the  ground  and  cov- 
ered with  dust;  the  noose  was,  perhaps,  a  foot  in  diameter  as  it 
hung. 

Their  rope  trap  being  at  length  placed  to  suit  them,  the  two  mulat- 
toes took  each  an  end  of  the  rope,  and  standing  opposite  each  other, 
forty  feet  apart,  perhaps,  signified  to  the  others  that  they  were  ready. 

The  negro  who  was  holding  the  board  before  the  crack  at  the  gate 
then  cautiously  slipped  it  away,  and  retired  with  speed,  when  car- 
rambal  all  the  others  stationed  with  pokers  and  poles  at  the  back  of 
the  hovel  raised  a  simultaneous  "  Holal  "  and  beat  upon  the  sides  and 
eaves  of  the  shed,  making  a  frightful  racket. 

At  the  first  note  of  the  clamor,  the  maja  —  a  great,  dark,  ash- 
colored  snake  —  glided  out  through  the  noose  at  the  crack  of  the  gate- 
having  a  pig  well  down  in  his  gullet. 

At  sight  of  him  a  yell  rose,  and  the  two  mulattoes  at  the  ends  of  the 
line  jerked  backward  with  all  their  force,  drawing  the  noose  tightly 
and  catching  the  maja  around  the  body  at  a  point  three  or  four  feet 
back  of  his  head.  Six  or  eight  others  ran  to  help  them  pull  the 
harder;  and  then  the  fun  began  in  earnest! 

The  snake  first  spit  out  his  pig;  then  began  such  a  struggle  for 
liberty  as  at  once  enlisted  our  full  sympathies  for  him. 

"Here  is  a  Cuban  patriot,"  exclaimed  Stein,  "with  a  rope  round 
his  neck,  doing  battle  with  ten  Spaniards!  " 


CATCHING  A   SNAKE. 


133 


At  his  first  muscular  bounce  the  maja  landed  himself  a  dozen  feet 
clear  of  the  gate,  disclosing  his  entire  length,  —  which  was  certainly  not 
less  than  fourteen  feet,  and  the  reader  can  judge  of  the  reptile's 
strength  from  the  fact  that  in  his  bounds  to  and  fro  he  pulled  the 
negroes  violently  back  and  forth  with  the  rope.  His  long  tail  cut  the 
air  like  a  cart- whip;  and  our  friend,  the  engineer,  assured  us  that  a 
stroke  of  his  tail  across  a  man's  stomach  would  be  as  fatal  as  a 
musket-shot. 

With  every  spring  the  reptile  expelled 
its  breath  with  a  shrill  sound,  and  its  black 
eyes  grew  livid  with  rage. 


KILLING   THE   SNAKE. 


The  struggle  con- 
tinued for  eight  or  ten 
minutes;  and  though  the 
negroes  had  no  great  diffi- 
culty in  holding  the  rope  straight,  and  thus  keeping  the  maja  at  a 
distance  from  their  legs,  yet  the  entire  party  were  carried  over  nearly 
an  acre  of  ground  in  the  melee,  knocking  down  a  whole  plat  of  tall 
bananas  on  the  side  of  the  quint  a. 

But  numbers  prevailed  (as  they  did  here  in   1878).     The  tightly- 
drawn  noose,  backed  by  vigorous  blows  from  pokers  and  poles,  quelled 


1?a  THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE   TROPICS. 

the  lithe  maja  at  length;  and  half  an  hour  later  two  negroes  were 
busily  engaged  stripping  off  its  skin,  to  be  tanned  for  shoe  leather. 

Our  engineer  friend  told  us  that  he  once  saw  one  of  these  large 
majas  chase  a  horse  which  had  accidentally  angered  it  by  stumbling 
into  its  hole.  The  snake,  darting  out,  struck  the  horse  with  its  tail  so 
heavy  a  blow  that  the  animal  uttered  a  loud  squeal,  and  ran  away;  but 
the  enraged  maja,  whirling  rapidly  along, —  first  from  its  head,  then 
from  its  tail,  —  not  only  kept  pace  with  the  horse,  but  lashed  it  so  furi- 
ously that  my  friend  thinks  the  horse  would  have  been  killed,  had  it 
not  run  into  a  shed,  where  several  negroes  came  to  its  relief. 

This  incident  may  call  to  mind  some  of  the  wonderful  accounts 
which  we  occasionally  hear  of  the  strength  and  swiftness  of  large 
black  snakes  in  the  United  States. 

While  in  Cuba  we  heard  a  great  deal  of  the  late  war  there,  or  "  the 
great  insurrection,"  as  the  Spaniards  term  it,  which  raged  in  the  east- 
ern districts  for  eight  years  prior  to  1878,  and  which  reduced  large 
and  previously  prosperous  sections  of  the  island  to  the  condition  of  a 
desert. 

Mr.  A ,  one  of  Stein's  acquaintances  at  Havana  —  an  Ameri- 
can who  fought  in  the  patriot  arm}'  throughout  the  long,  bitter,  and 
hopeless  struggle  for  Cuban  independence  —  told  him  many  incidents 
of  the  war,  two  of  which  he  has  written  out,  and  contributes  them  to 
our  book. 

A  TRAGIC  INCIDENT. 

Sitting  on  a  block  of  limestone  which  the  workmen  with  their  double-faced 
axes  had  just  squared  down  for  the  new  market-house,  I  saw  a  hideous  object, 
yet  in  human  shape ;  so  hideous  that  I  shrink  from  describing  it,  and  must 
search  for  softening  words,  lest  I  shock  the  reader.  It  was  the  form  of  a  negro, 
shrivelled  and  clad  in  two  rags  which  held  the  place  of  drawers  and  shirt. 
Where  should  have  been  the  eyes  were  two  deep  sightless  pits,  frightfully  livid 
and  broken,  like  what  my  boyish  fancy  used  to  portray  in  the  forehead  of  Poly- 
phemus after  that  Ulysses  had  bored  out  the  gigantic  eye. 


THE  BEGGAR.  j^e 

Ears  it  had  none ;  —  and  what  a  strange,  almost  terrific  aspect  the  human 
head  has  without  the  ears  !  Instead  were  two  blood-red  scars  where  they  had 
been  cut  away.  The  face,  the  exposed  breast,  and  the  arms  were  literally  seamed 
and  scored  with  deep  lines,  the  paths  of  gaping  sabre  wounds.  Involuntarily 
I  closed  my  eyes  to  pass ;  I  had  heard  of  beggars  who  in  the  interest  of  their 
trade  with  human  sympathy  had  mutilated  themselves.  But  my  Cuban  friend 
laid  a  hand  upon  my  arm,  and  with  a  gesture  almost  pathetic,  I  thought,  said  to 
me  softly,  "  Put  a  little  money  in  his  hand  and  say  cheerfully,  Buenas  tardes, 
Florencio  /"  and  he  set  the  example  himself, — a  rather  lavish  one,  for  I  saw 
that  he  slipped  a  paper  dollar  into  the  terrible  hand  of  the  sightless  anatomy. 

I  felt  a  little  surprised.  Ordinarily  my  friend  paid  little  attention  to  beg- 
gars ;  for  here  in  Havana  beggars  of  all  degrees  of  human  decrepitude  and 
malformation  are  as  plenty  as  are  buzzards. 

Presently,  as  we  went  out  into  the  Prado,  he  said,  "  That  poor  wretch  was  not 
a  professional  beggar,  like  the  most  of  them.  He  is  a  hero,  — as  true,  faithful  a 
fellow  as  ever  breathed,  and  worthy  of  all  any  one  can  give  him.  You  saw  how 
he  was  chopped  to  pieces.  The  Spaniards  did  that  because  he  would  n't  turn  trai- 
tor to  us  in  the  war.  It  is  one  of  our  Cuban  tragedies.  Tragedies  were  plenty 
herefrom  1870  to  1877;  that  struggle  which  the  world  calls  the  Cuban  insur- 
rection. No  history  of  our  war  has  ever  been  written,  and  none  save  some  of 
those  who  fought  it  through  to  the  last  bitter  hour  of  defeat  and  prison  bars 
know  what  we  suffered  here.  Cuba,  which  so  ardently  desired  to  be  a  free  state, 
like  the  other  fair  lands  of  the  New  World,  lies  conquered  ;  her  business 
ruined,  her  plantations  a  wreck,  her  money  a  mass  of  dirty  depreciated  paper 
rags  that  the  very  beggars  turn  up  their  noses  at,  and  everywhere  troops, 
troops,  soldiers,  soldiers,  which  we  are  taxed  to  the  earth  to  support,  —  to  hold 
us  in  submission.  Bitter,  indeed,  is  the  fate  of  that  country  which  tries  to  be 
free  and  fails.  Had  we  succeeded  in  1870,  as  we  nearly  did,  how  different 
would  be  the  condition  of  Cuba  to-day  !  The  world  would  now  call  us  patriots 
and  illustrious  instead  of  conquered  rebels  ! 

"  That  poor  negro  was  a  slave  on  one  of  the  sugar-plantations  out  near  Porto 
Principe.  The  place  is  a  wreck  now,  a  desert ;  but  in  1870  it  was  a  fine  estate, 
where  one  of  my  personal  friends  —  whose  name  I  must  withhold  —  had  recently 
put  in  machinery  for  crushing  cane  and  boiling  molasses,  to  the  value  of  a  hun- 
dred thousand  pesos  (dollars).  But  he  was  an  ardent  patriot,  and  loved  Cuba  and 
her  freedom  better  than  his  business.  By  every  means,  personally  and  by  the 
aid  of  his  fortune,  he  worked  for  the  public  liberty,  both  in  Havana  and  in  New 
York,  to  secure  our  recognition  as  belligerents  and  to  enlist  volunteers  in  the 


136 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE   TROPICS. 


North  to  fight  the  Spanish  in  the  field.  In  consequence  of  his  exertions  he  was 
soon  a  marked  man  —  marked  by  the  government  for  execution  when  caught. 
This  was  as  late  as  1874,  after  the  Cubans  had  emancipated  their  slaves  as  a  war 
measure,  and  hoped  that  they  would  fight  with  them  against  the  common  enemy. 
As  might  have  been  foreseen,  however,  the  most  of  them  went  their  ways,  car- 
ing very  little  for  Cuban  independence,  and  in  some  cases  even  taking  up  arms 
against  us.  One  of  my  friend's  blacks,  however  (this  same  Florencio),  did  not 
leave  the  ingenio,  but  remained  looking  after  the  property  during  his  former 
master's  many  absences,  and  attending  to  his  comforts  when  at  intervals  he  re- 
turned for  a  few  days. 

It  chanced  that  my  friend  had  been  on  a  secret  mission  to  Havana,  where  he 
was  kept  concealed  in  the  house  of  a  compatriot  for  a  number  of  days  —  enter- 
ing and  leaving  the  city  by  night  along  dark  alleys,  and  journeying  across  the 
country  by  routes  which  were  known  to  him  from  boyhood,  but  with  which  the 
enemy's  guardias  were  unfamiliar.  This,  indeed,  was  but  one  of  many  such 
trips  in  behalf  of  our  lost  cause ;  and  such  was  his  knowledge  of  the  country 
that  hitherto  he  had  been  able  to  make  them  without  discovery. 

But  on  this  occasion  some  spy  or  some  traitor  had  given  the  Spanish  the 
clue  and  put  the  soldiers  on  his  track. 

He  had  been  at  the  ingenio  no  more  than  an  hour  when  Florencio,  who  had 
gone  out  to  the  qninta  to  gather  a  bunch  of  plantanos  (bananas),  came  hurriedly 
back  into  the  engine-house  of  the  ingenio,  which  my  friend,  in  the  general 
wreck  of  his  household  goods,  occupied  as  a  sleeping-room  and  hiding-place : 
"  Por  amor  de  cielo,  maestro  !  "  he  exclaimed,  "  Los  So/dados  !  "  "  For  the  love 
of  Heaven,  master,  the  soldiers  are  here  !  " 

Stepping  to  the  window,  my  friend  saw  that  Florencio's  warning  was  but 
too  true.  A  troop  of  cavalry  was  riding  furiously  up  to  the  ingenio,  deploying 
as  they  came  on  to  throw  a  cordon  of  men  round  the  mill. 

To  escape  by  flight  was  impossible,  and  he  well  knew  what  capture  meant ; 
yet  my  friend's  coolness  did  not  forsake  him. 

"  Close  the  shutters,"  he  said  to  the  negro  ;  "and  bar  the  door,  but  open  it 
when  they  summon  you.  Say  that  I  have  gone.  They  will  not  hurt  you,  I 
think." 

The  furnace  of  the  engine-room  was  one  of  those  broad-mouthed  fomallas 
for  consuming  the  green  begasse  of  the  sugar-cane  as  fuel.  Into  this  fire-box 
my  friend  crept,  and,  regardless  of  soot  and  dust,  made  his  way  up  the  inside  of 
the  narrow  brick  flue  to  a  kind  of  widened  jog,  or  jamb  in  the  brick  work,  where 
he  was  able  to  stand  out  of  sight,  even  to  one  looking  up  the  flue  from  inside 


SPANISH  CRUELTY.  !,* 

the  fire-box.     Florencio   had   closed    the  furnace   door  behind    him   on    the 
instant. 

Scarcely  had  he  gained  his  perch  on  the  jamb  when,  without  waiting  to 
knock,  or  order  the  door  opened,  the  soldiers  staved  it  in  with  the  tongue  of  an 
old  cane  cart  which  lay  in  the  yard ;  and  then  confusedly  (for  the  iron  and  brick 
of  the  fornalla  muffled  the  sounds)  my  friend  heard  himself  peremptorily  in- 
quired for  as  a  cursed  traidor  (traitor)  by  the  captain  of  the  troop. 

Florencio  replied  that  his  master  had  been  there,  but  had  gone. 

" P erro  negro !  "  (black  dog),  shouted  the  officer,  "Tell  me  where  he  is  in- 
stantly, or  I  will  have  you  flayed  alive  !  " 

Florencio  answered  merely  that  he  had  nothing  to  tell ;  that  his  master  had 
gone. 

The  soldiers  then  searched  the  engine-house  and  all  the  other  buildings  of 
the  mill.  They  even  looked  into  the  fire-box  of  the  fornalla,  and  stirred  up  the 
heaps  of  cinders  at  the  bottom  of  it. 

Following  this,  my  friend  again  heard  the  officer  order  Florencio  to  tell 
where  his  master  had  gone ;  but  the  faithful  fellow  persistently  replied  that  he 
had  nothing  further  to  tell. 

Presently  the  soldiers  took  him  out  into  the  yard  and  bound  him  to  a  palm 
trunk.  Repeatedly  then,  for  the  space  of  an  hour,  which  seemed  an  age  to  my 
endangered  friend,  he  heard  them  threatening  Florencio  at  intervals.  Several 
times,  too,  he  thought  that  he  heard  the  poor  fellow  cry  out ;  and  he  had  no 
doubt  that  they  were  beating  him,  or  pricking  him  with  their  swords.  But  he 
had  little  idea  that  they  were  inflicting  upon  him  the  horrible  tortures  which 
the  event  showed,  else  —  as  he  has  often  declared  to  me  with  tears  in  his  eyes 
—  he  would  have  come  out  and  surrendered  rather  than  have  allowed  it. 

And  that  the  negro  should  have  endured  such  agony  without  shrieking  is 
one  of  the  strongest  proofs  of  his  fidelity  and  his  nerve.  They  literally  cut  the 
flesh  from  his  bones.  Not  a  patch  of  his  skin  remained  which  was  not  gashed 
with  their  sabres.  One  by  one  they  cut  off  every  toe,  and  as  a  crowning  act  of 
torture,  they  dug  out  the  poor  faithful  slave's  eyes,  and  cutting  off  his  ears, 
crammed  them  into  his  mouth  ! 

Such  cruelties  are  almost  too  horrible  to  be  believed ;  and  no  doubt  can  exist 
that  the  wretches  who  had  the  heart  to  perpetrate  such  horrors  upon  a  fellow- 
being  were  the  true  descendants  of  the  inquisitors  who,  three  centuries  ago, 
made  the  Christian  religion  the  excuse  for  outrages  upon  humanity,  such  as  the 
world  to  that  time,  through  ages  of  savagery  and  heathenism,  had  never 
dreamed  of. 


I3« 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE    TROPICS. 


In  the  name  of  humanity,  I  ask  the  enlightened  world,  how  long  should  this 
fair  island  of  Cuba  remain  in  the  clutches  of  such  men  ? 

After  a  time  the  troop  rode  away ;  and  my  friend  presumed  that  they  had 
taken  Florencio  with  them  ;  for  he  heard  nothing  of  him. 


A   TRAGIC    INCIDENT. 


After  it  had  grown  dark,  he  ventured  to  creep  down  from  out  the  fortialla, 
when  he  found  his  poor  servant  in  a  swoon,  still  hanging  by  the  rope  to  the 
palm  trunk. 

Life  was  not  extinct,  however,  and  toward  morning  the  poor  creature 
revived  and  faintly  spoke  his  master's  name. 


A   CURIOUS  EXPERIENCE.  Tog 

My  friend  says  that  those  few  words  from  him  were  the  saddest,  most 
reproachful,  yet  the  sweetest  music  he  ever  heard. 

He  nursed  him  there  for  two  months,  and  afterwards  hired  a  negro  to  wait 
upon  him  constantly. 

Eighteen  months  later  my  friend  fell  in  one  of  our  hopeless  battles,  and 
Florencio  at  length  found  his  way  to  Havana. 

You  can  understand  why  it  is  that  I  never  pass  the  poor  fellow  by.  In  the 
name  of  Cuba's  lost  liberty,  I  always  give  him  something ;  and  I  would  divide 
my  last  dollar  with  him  rather  than  see  him  suffer  further. 


IN   AN   OLD   MOLASSES   HOGSHEAD. 

It  was  a  hot  night  even  for  Cuba,  and  April  nights  in  this  tropic  island  are 
not  commonly  suggestive  of  icebergs. 

This  was  in  1873,  during  the  very  worst  and  bloodiest  times  of  the  Cuban 
insurrection,  "when  war  to  the  knife  and  no  prisoners"  had  begun  in  dire 
earnest  on  both  sides.  For  the  government  troops  were  accustomed  to  shoot 
down  a  "  patriot  "  at  sight,  armed  or  unarmed  ;  and  on  our  side  the  volunteers 
were  not  slow  to  sanguinary  reprisals  upon  any  of  the  hated  Spanish  soldados 
who  showed  their  heads  in  the  interior  about  Porto  Principe. 

Those  were  the  times  when  Cuban  planters  were  destroying  their  own  plan- 
tations, slaughtering  their  cattle  rather  than  let  the  government  troops  find 
food  or  a  resting-place  in  the  eastern  districts;  when  the  wells  and  springs  were 
choked  with  dead  carcasses,  so  that  not  a  drop  of  good  water  should  solace  the 
enemy  on  his  marches  against  us ;  when  even  the  women  watched  all  day  in  the 
tops  of  the  ceiba  trees  to  give  us  notice  of  the  approach  of  the  invaders,  — 
women  who,  in  their  devotion  to  the  cause  of  this  fair  island's  liberty,  were  not 
less  self-sacrificing  than  those  of  Carthage.  Alas,  that  such  devotion  should 
have  been  in  vain  !  But  not  in  vain  forever  ;  Cuba  will  be  free,  —  the  patriotic 
fire  and  fervor  in  the  hearts  of  her  sons  and  daughters  is  not  extinguished. 
Covered  now,  but  hot  and  quick,  it  smoulders  ready  to  break  into  flame  when 
the  favorable  hour  shall  strike. 

For  three  months  our  little  company  of  forty-six  men,  under  Captain  Green, 
had  been  living  as  best  we  could  in  the  monte  to  the  southeast  of  Porto  Principe ; 
often  in  want  of  food,  but  ready  to  fight  any  detachment  the  Spanish  General 
might  send  against  us.  That  afternoon  we  had  come  out  to  Tunas,  and  there, 
just  at  nightfall,  a  negro  from  Porto  Principe  informed  us  that  the  enemy  had 


lAo  THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE   TROPICS. 

taken  the  town,  and  had  by  a  rue-de-guerra  succeeded  in  surrounding  a  company 
of  "  patriots  "  at  an  ingenio,  or  sugar-mill,  where  they  were  defending  them- 
selves desperately. 

But  such  rumors  were  everywhere  rife  then.  The  negroes  were  constantly 
spreading  exciting  news,  and  some  of  these  latter  were  paid  spies  of  the 
Spanish,  who  sought  thus  to  draw  us  into  ambuscades,  and  once  or  twice,  in  the 
case  of  our  less  cautious  officers,  had  succeeded. 

Nevertheless,  the  news  made  a  flurry  among  the  men,  particularly  the 
Cubanos,  who  were  very  mobile-tempered.  There  were  eight  of  us  Americans 
in  the  company,  five  of  whom  had  served  in  the  Civil  War ;  and  upon  us  our 
capitan,  being  an  American  himself,  naturally  relied. 

"Most  likely  it 's  a  lie,  perhaps  a  trick,"  he  said  to  us  ;  "still  we  cannot 
tell ;  and  I  wish  one  of  you  boys  would  go  down  there  and  see  what 's  up  !  " 

The  distance  was  twelve  leguas,  no  pleasant  trip  hot  and  bootless.  But 
Warren  Robertson  (afterwards  killed  at  the  solado)  and  myself  stepped  forward 
together. 

"Thanks,"  said  Captain  Green.  "I  don't  like  to  choose  between  you; 
snap  up  a  real  /" 

We  did  so,  and  my  choice  of  the  head  came  up. 

A  decent  horse  and  a  negro  guide  were  found  for  me  in  the  hamlet ;  for 
though  I  had  been  across  the  country  two  or  three  times  already  I  knew  little 
of  the  various  roads  and  devious  estradas  which  it  might  be  necessary  to  take, 
particularly  by  night. 

When  it  had  grown  dark,  not  till  then,  I  set  off,  keeping  the  black  boy,  who 
was  mounted  on  a  large  mule,  a  little  in  advance,  giving  him  plainly  to  under- 
stand that  any  attempt  on  his  part  to  desert  or  play  me  a  trick  would  surely 
draw  a  shot  from  my  Winchester.  These  blacks  were  many  of  them  great  ras- 
cals ;  but  they  knew  the  country  like  a  book,  and  it  was  when  the  enemy  began 
to  employ  them  as  scouts  that  the  greatest  mischief  was  done  us. 

The  night  was  hot,  damp,  and  dark,  —  so  dark  that  I  could  but  faintly  make 
out  the  ghostly  white  trunks  of  the  palms  which  everywhere  stud  the  half- 
cleared  lands.  The  only  sounds,  save  here  and  there  the  barking  of  dogs,  were 
the  chirrupings  of  the  frogs,  and  now  and  then  the  screeches  of  parrots  where 
a  maja  was  trying  to  catch  them.  Once  or  twice  we  passed  closely  upon  groups 
of  negroes  — picaros  —  out  on  their  forays. 

By  four  o'clock  we  had  arrived  among  the  quintas  which  skirt  the  town,  and 
here  I  hitched  up  the  animals,  and  then  went  on  foot  with  the  negro  to  the  hut 
of  a  black  man  whom  he  knew,  and  who  I  surmised  could  tell  the  news,  if  there 


CRACK!  CRACK!  1.1 

were  any.  Cautiously  rousing  out  the  black  gardener,  I  elicited  from  him  the 
intelligence  that  four  batallons  of  the  enemy's  infantry  and  a  company  of  cavalry 
had  entered  the  town  the  previous  day,  but  that  there  had  been  no  fight.  Even 
as  he  was  telling  me  this  the  morning  bugles  of  the  different  batallons  began 
to  sound  up  at  the  plaza. 

The  fellow  evidently  told  the  truth.  If  there  had  been  a  battle  at  that  small 
town,  he  would  have  been  sure  to  know  it.  Moreover,  if  treacherous,  he  seemed 
friendly,  and  gave  us  oranges  and  bread  freely. 

This  being  the  state  of  affairs,  I  determined  to  retrace  my  steps  and  get 
away  from  the  town  a  good  bit  before  the  sun  had  risen.  We  set  off  accordingly, 
and  had  ridden  for  an  hour,  perhaps,  along  the  road  we  had  come,  — but  very 
leisurely,  for  our  animals  were  much  fatigued,  —  when  directly  ahead  I  heard  a 
loud  "  Hola  !  "  and  saw  a  squad  of  Spanish  cavalry  running  upon  us  at  a  furious 
gallop. 

The  negro  with  whom  I  had  conversed  had  probably  gone  on  the  instant  of 
my  departure  and  betrayed  me  in  hope  of  a  reward. 

The  black  boy  with  me  cried  out  in  abject  terror,  and  slipping  off  his  mule 
took  to  the  gnava  hedge ;  and  not  caring  for  a  hand-to-hand  conflict  with  eight 
or  ten  troopers,  I  wheeled  through  a  gap  in  the  hedge,  on  the  other  side,  and 
rode  for  life  through  a  field  of  young  cane,  keeping  to  cover  of  a  row  of  palms. 

Crack,  crack,  and  whiz,  whiz,  whiz,  went  a  half-dozen  carbine  shots  past 
me.  The  rascals  were  hard  after  me,  and  my  poor  horse  was  already  well  used 
up.  Beyond  the  cane  was  a  belt  of  low  orange  trees,  and  through  these  I  came 
plump  down  upon  the  bank  of  one  of  those  deep,  sluggish  Cuban  creeks,  half 
choked  with  high,  rank  grass.  There  was  no  time  for  looking  out  a  ford.  I  put 
my  horse  at  it,  and  with  the  first  spring  he  landed  me  in  the  middle  of  the 
stream,  over  his  back  in  mud  and  water,  and  there  stuck  fast.  I  slid  over  his 
head  and  struggled  to  the  further  bank,  wet  to  my  skin  and  plastered  with  black 
mud.  On  that  side  were  also  orange  trees ;  through  them  I  ran,  the  water 
streaming  off  me,  —  stimulated  by  the  crack  of  a  carbine  from  behind,  where 
a  trooper  had  caught  a  glimpse  of  me.  The  orange  orchard  was  perhaps  two 
hundred  meters  in  width,  and  from  it  I  emerged  at  full  run  upon  a  deserted 
ingenio,  where  beneath  the  long  storage  shed  my  eye  fell  on  thirty  or  forty 
hogsheads  of  molasses  ranged  in  a  row,  on  their  sides,  upon  a  platform  against 
the  back  wall. 

In  such  stress  for  life  a  person  will  sometimes  have  strangely  quick,  vivid 
thoughts.  When  a  boy,  far  up  North  in  my  New  England  home,  I  had  worked 
for  three  or  four  winters  at  making  "  shook,"  as  we  called  it  ;  that  is,  riving  and 


I42 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE   TROPICS. 


shaving  red-oak  staves  for  molasses  hogsheads,  which  our  Northern  schooners, 
sailing  to  the  West  Indies  after  molasses,  took  thither  with  them,  bound  up  in 
bundles,  just  as  we  made  them  in  the  woods. 

In  that  moment  of  fear  and  desperation,  no  one  can  tell  what  a  homelike 
feeling  came  to  me  from  the  sight  of  those  oaken  hogsheads.  Two  or  three 
others,  empty,  one  with  one  head  out,  lay  about  on  the  platform ;  and  as  my 
eye  fell  upon  it  a  sudden  thought  —  like  a  whispered  word—  flashed  in  my 
mind!  'T would  be  a  bold  trick.  Dared  I  risk 
it !  Once,  years  ago,  when  a  boy  playing  at  hide- 
and-seek  in  the  old  barn  at  home,  I  had  hit  on 
that  same  ruse  to  delude  my  play-fellows  and  suc- 
ceeded completely.     I  would  risk  it. 

All  this  passed  through  my  mind,  probably. 
in  a  single  second  of  time. 


As  quickly  did 
I  act — rolling  two 
y    of  the  full  hogsheads 
^  at  one  end  of  the  row 
back  a  little   from  the 
others,  and  introducing 
-^    into  the  gap  in  the  row  the 
empty  hogshead,  with  the  open 
end  turned  next  to  the  wall.    For- 
tunately for  my  trick,  this  hogs- 
head   had    the    remaining    outer 
head  painted  red,  like  the  others  in  the  row. 

To  toss  my  carbine  into  the  well  at  the  end  of  the  shed,  and  slip  my  body 
down  beside  the  wall,  was  but  the  work  of  another  moment ;  and  then  by  two 
or  three  vigorous  pulls  and  hitches  I  contrived  to  work  the  cask  (with  myself 
in  it)  so  far  back  that  the  open  head  could  not  readily  be  detected,  even  by  one 
passing  close  to  the  row.  My  hogshead  thus  resembled  the  others  so  closely 
as  not  to  be  distinguished  from  them,  unless  it  were  moved. 

Thus  ensconced  I  drew  my  revolver,  and  waited  the  outcome  of  the  adven- 


IN   THE   MUD   AND   WATER. 


IN  THE  MOLASSES  HOGSHEAD.  j,, 

ture.  A  minute  had  not  yet  elapsed  since  I  came  out  to  the  ingenio,  yet  I  was 
none  too  soon.  Scarcely  had  I  got  quiet  in  my  hogshead  when,  with  loud 
"kolas !  "  and  shouts  of, — 

"  Carramba  !  " 

" Perro  Americano!"  four  or  five  of  the  troopers  who  had  managed  to  get 
their  horses  through  the  creek  came  galloping  up  to  the  mill,  followed  by  the 
others  on  foot  —  all  wet  and  swearing  as  only  such  troopers  can  ! 

Through  a  tiny  crack  in  the  head  of  my  cask  I  could  catch  glimpses  of 
them.  They  had  tracked  me  to  the  shed ;  and  now  I  shuddered  to  see  that 
they  had  detected  my  wet  foot-prints  on  the  platform  itself.  Surely  they  must 
find  me  now.  Setting  my  teeth  and  grasping  the  butt  of  my  pistol,  I  deter- 
mined to  sell  my  life  at  a  good  price  ;  six  of  them  should  die  with  me,  I  vowed. 

Shouting  and  cursing,  they  rushed  along  past  the  row  of  hogsheads,  follow- 
ing my  last  tracks  to  the  well.  This  they  examined  closely,  and  even  threw 
down  six  or  eight  heavy  stones,  thinking,  I  presume,  that  I  might  be  ducking 
under  the  water.  Then  they  ca'me  back  past  the  row  of  hogsheads,  fuming 
and  execrating  me  in  stiffest  phrase.  One  of  them  ran  along  on  the  top  of  the 
hogsheads,  then  came  slowly  back,  actually  standing  for  several  seconds  upon 
the  very  cask  in  which  I  lay  coiled !  Then  they  all  hurried  away  to  search  the 
engine-house  and  other  buildings  of  the  ingenio.  For  fully  half  an  hour  I  heard 
them  rummaging  and  shouting.  Twice  their  officer  came  back  to  the  well ;  and 
the  last  time  he  had  two  of  the  men  pitch  down  more  and  heavier  stones,  — 
seeming  to  be  of  the  opinion  that  I  must  be  down  there.  At  length  they  went 
on,  to  search  further,  no  doubt. 

I  kept  close  in  my  tub  for  an  hour  or  two  ;  then  unable  to  bear  the  cramped 
position  longer,  I  crept  cautiously  out  and  hid  in  the  engine-house,  and  here  I 
remained  all  day.  When  it  was  fairly  dark  I  sallied  forth,  and  getting  a  stick, 
climbed  down  into  the  well  by  the  rod  and  pipe  of  the  windmill  pump,  hoping  to 
recover  my  carbine.  But  the  rascals  had  buried  it  too  deep  beneath  the  stones 
which  they  had  thrown  down.  I  could  not  get  it  up,  and,  much  to  my  chagrin, 
was  obliged  to  leave  it  there. 

Next  I  went  out  to  the  creek,  thinking  that  if  my  horse  was  anywhere  about 
I  would  again  impress  him  into  my  service.  But  some  one  else  had  taken  him, 
or  he  had  gone  away  by  himself.  I  was  obliged  to  make  my  way  back  to  Tunas 
on  foot,  minus  my  Winchester,  —  a  serious  loss  at  that  time. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


ON     BOARD     THE     "CITY    OF     MERIDA. TROPIC     HEATS. A    "NORTHER." ON 

THE    GULF    IN    A    TEMPEST. SOME    FEARS    AND    MUCH    DISCOMFORT.  MOSES 

RESIGNED. ORIZABA    IN    SIGHT. VERA    CRUZ. 


^  the  morning  of  the  18th  of  February  the 
staunch  old  steamship  "  City  of 
Merida"  was  lying  off  Frontera,  in 
the  Bay  of  Campeche.  Like  nearly 
all  the  gulf  ports  of  Mexico,  Fron- 
tera has  no  harbor,  and  all  vessels 
coming  here  (including  the  New 
York,  Havana,  and  .Mexican  mail 
steamers)  anchor  eight  or  ten  miles 
off  the  shore,  and  trans-ship  their 
cargoes  into  "  lighters,"  which  come 
out  for  it.  It  is  a  tedious  process, 
and  an  entire  day  may  be  consumed  unloading  a  few  tons  of  freight. 
The  day  was  a  hot  one  even  for  the  Bay  of  Campeche,  enclosed 
about  by  the  tierra  caliente.  Not  a  breath  of  wind  stirred  the 
shining  surface  of  the  green  sea;  and  under  the  awning  of  the  after- 
deck  it  seemed  as  if  our  heads  would  burst  from  the  sultry  oppress- 
iveness of  the  almost  vertical  sun-rays.  We  sighed  for  a  breeze;  just 
a  breath,  ever  so  little,  would  have  been  an  unspeakable  relief. 

Twelve,  one,  two  o'clock  came.     It  was  too  hot  to  eat,  well-nigh 
too  hot  to  breathe.     How  the  crew  contrived  to  work,  hoisting  out 
freight,  was  a  matter  of  astonishment.     The  very  creak  of  the  tackle- 
144 


A    "NORTHER."  Xac 

blocks  was  painful,  and  the  ship's  bells  gave  one  a  headache.  Some 
of  the  Indians  in  the  lighters  lay  asleep  in  the  half  shadow  of  the 

listless  sails,  and  our  fellow-traveller,  Moses  O ,  tried  to  sleep  in 

the  shade  of  a  deck-boat.  Stein  tried  to  read  "  Prescott's  Conquest 
of  Mexico,"  and  Karzy  essayed  to  fan  himself  with  a  "  Seaside," 
which  he  had  long  ago  given  up  trying  to  read. 

Presently  we  became  aware  of  a  sudden  and  unusual  stir  aboard; 
the  captain  was  seen  to  go  hastily  forward,  the  engineer  to  come 
rather  quickly  from  his  room.  Then  the  second  officer  was  heard 
ordering  off  the  lighters;  anon  black  smoke  rolled  up  from  the  twin 
funnels. 

"  Something  must  be  the  matter  with  the  barometer,"  remarked 
the  old  English  passenger. 

"  A  'norther,'  I  reckon,"  observed  the  mahogany  dealer. 

"  Well,  a  '  norther  '  would  n't  go  so  bad,"  said  Moses,  rolling  out 
from  the  barren  lee  of  his  boat. 

"Ah,  the  very  name  of  it  sounds  sort  of  cool  and  refreshing," 
panted  Karzy. « 

Still  the  sun  poured,  —  mucho  calor  ! 

But  twenty  or  thirty  minutes  later  a  dark,  rough  line  was  espied 
moving  down  across  the  glass-bright  water  far  to  the  northward,  and 
on  the  horizon  in  that  quarter  a  single  amber  cloud  had  risen. 

"There  comes  the  breeze!  "  was  the  cry,  and  all  got  up  and  stood 
looking  pantingly  toward  it. 

The  ruffled  line  of  water  bore  down  upon  us,  and,  gentle  as  a 
zephyr  at  first,  it  flapped  our  heated  awnings,  —  ah,  how  gratefully  ! 

But  the  captain  seemed  to  distrust  it;  the  awnings  were  at  once 
hauled  off  and  stowed  away.  Everything,  in  fact,  was  lashed  fast  and 
made  snug.  Immediately  the  anchor  was  raised,  and  the  old  ship 
moved  off  under  a  full  head  of  steam,  not  toward  Vera  Cruz,  where 
she  was  due  next  morning,  but  to  the  northward,  directly  up  into  the 
Gulf. 


146 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE    TROPICS. 


Within  an  hour  we  all  began  to  feel  that  it  was  getting  fresh,  — 
cold,  in  fact.  Overcoats  and  thick  caps  came  out;  by  sunset  the  ocean 
was  really  stormy  and  rough,  and  in  the  north  and  west  a  vast  blue- 
black  bank  of  clouds  had  risen,  across  which,  in  the  twilight,  played 
gleaming  lines  of  lightening.  Toward  it,  heading  into  the  rising 
wind,  the  old  steamer  ploughed  and  plunged  under  full  pressure  of 
her  screws. 

The  supper-table,  hitherto  so  jolly  a  gathering-place,  was  strangely 
deserted  to-night,  the  most  of  our  friends  appearing  to  have  personal 
cares  in  their  state-rooms. 

By  nine  o'clock  the  sensation  of  heavy  weather,  not  unattended 
with  danger,  had  crept  over  all.  The  ship  was  rolling  and  pitching 
violently,  and  the  wind,  the  "norther,"  how  it  howled  and  whistled! 
Ere  long  waves  began  to  break  over  the  bulwarks,  and  random  douches 
of  water  to  dash  in  at  the  state-room  windows.  Then  came  a  fearful 
lurch,  followed  by  a  terriffic  crash  of  crockery  and  glasses  in  the 
pantry,  and  a  general  upset  of  trunks  and  chairs,  amidst  the  tumble 
and  rumble  of  which  there  rose  a  wail  of  anguish,  from  all  the 
afflicted. 

The  "fun"  had  begun. 

To  cross,  or  to  stand,  in  the  saloon  was  now  a  perilous  business. 
Each  got  to  his  berth,  and  kept  in  it  as  best  he  could.  Above  the 
dismal  creaking  and  snapping  of  the  cabin  woodwork  could  be 
heard,  now  and  then,  a  groan  of  "  Oh  my  !  "  from  the  indisposed. 
The  few  ladies  on  board  were  sad  sufferers;  even  the  old  stewardess, 
whom  we  discovered  with  her  head  down  on  one  of  the  tables  and 
her  arm  wound  round  a  post. 

The  gale  increased  with  the  advancing  night.  To  one  clinging 
to  the  sides  of  his  berth,  the  mad  plunging  of  the  vessel  grew,  indeed, 
alarming;  occasionally,  too,  a  shock  from  a  sea  caused  her  entire 
frame  to  vibrate  as  if  she  had  struck  a  reef.  No  one  could  keep  still 
enough  for  sleep,  neither  in  his  berth,  nor  on  the  floor.     Within  the 


ROUGH   WEATHER. 


147 


state-rooms  water-pitchers,  wash-bowls,  glasses,  soap-dishes,  life- 
preservers,  and  travelling-bags  tumbled  and  bounded  about  in  a  truly 
perilous  manner.  Everything  breakable  was  soon  reduced  to  a 
homogeneous  mass  of  debris,  which  flew  from  one  side  to  the  other 
with  each  semi-somersault  of  the  ship.  Every  state-room  had 
its  own  horrible  discord  of  noises,  and  these  were  supplemented  by  fre- 
quent grand  crashes  in  the  pantry,  where  whole  piles  of  plates  and  stands 
of  glasses  broke  loose  at  once.     With  such  sounds,  added  to  the  roar 

of  the  tempest,  the  ponderous 
dashing  of  the  sea,  the  cracking 
of  the  ship,  and  the  ominous 
"  flutter  "  of  her  screws  as  they 
"  raced "  in  the  air  when  the 
waves  threw  them  out  of  water, 
the  night  was  filled. 

Clinging  for  dear  life  to  posts 
and  door-handles,  we  made  calls 
of  condolence  on  each  other, 
but  many  were  the  bruises 
received.  Moses  was  much 
"  under  the  weather,"  and  only 
entreated  to  be  left  alone  where 
he  lay,  half  buried  in  coats  and 
broken  crockery,  on  the  floor  of 
his  room.  "  But  what  if  we 
have  to  take  to  the  boats  ? " 
Karzy  said  to  him.  "  What  if 
the  ship  were  to  sink?"  "Let 
her  go,"  muttered  Moses. 
About  four  o'clock  a  rumor  spread  that  a  part  of  the  cargo  in  the 
hold,  consisting  of  large  sections  of  drain-pipe  for  Vera  Cruz,  had 
shifted  and  was  plunging  from  side  to  side.      This  story  for  a  time 


SEA-EAGLES    FIGHTING. 


148 


THE   KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE    TROPICS. 


produced  something  of  a  panic,  for  the  vessel  listed  a  good  deal.  It 
proved  to  be  an  exaggerated  alarm,  however;  on  the  whole,  the 
old  steamer  was  behaving  well,  and  her  officers,  though  anxious,  were 
calm  and  fairly  confident  that  she  would  weather  it. 

Day  dawning  soon  after,  we  all  felt  less  solicitous.  There  is  some- 
thing reassuring  in  morning  light,  even  though,  as  in  our  case,  it 
revealed  a  wild  sky  and  a  grand,  almost  teriffically  stormy  ocean. 
Some  of  the  waves  were,  indeed,  enormous;  and  with  every  plunge 
of  the  ship  a  wall  of  water  seemed  to  rise  at  her  bowsprit,  and  fall 
from  ten  to  twenty  feet  in  depth  upon  her  bows  and  forward  deck. 
Then  as  she  rose  nobly  again  to  climb  the  next  "  mountain  "  the  ball  on 
her  flagstaff  at  the  stern  would  descend  level  with  the  billows  in  her 
wake. 

With  a  liberal  use  of  lines  we  made  good  our  position  on  deck, 
and  enjoyed  —  such  of  us  as  were  not  too  sick  —  some  remarkably 
grand  ocean  scenery. 

The  steward  and  his  waiters  essayed  to  get  breakfast,  and  also 
dinner,  in  due  course,  and  ludicrous  enough  were  some  of  the  tab- 
leaux which  here  and  there  a  lone  effort  to  take  coffee  or  steak 
furnished,  particularly  the  erratic  efforts  of  three  waiters  to  capture  a 
large  ball  of  butter,  which,  despite  them  all,  succeeded  in  making  six 
flying  trips  across  the  saloon. 

Still  the  "  norther  "  blew;  but  the  second  night  seemed  not  so  bad 
as  the  first,  —  perhaps  because  we  had  grown  a  little  used  to  it,  and 
all  the  loose  crockery  was  already  broken.  Moses,  too,  was  better, 
having,  as  he  stated  it,  thrown  up  everything  except  his  patronymic, 
and  had  hard  work  several  times  to  keep  hold  of  that. 

On  the  second  morning  there  was  sensibly  less  wind,  though  the 
sea  seemed  as  rough  as  ever. 

"How  long  may  we  reasonably  expect  this  thing  to  last?"  Stein 
inquired  of  Captain  Rettig  at  breakfast,  or  our  attempt  at  the 
same. 


JtJ  '^' 


Wk 


ts^sisft#r    .-       fill- 


VERA   CRUZ. 


VERA    CRUZ.  Iej 

"Well,  the  longest  'norther'  I  ever  knew  lasted  but  tiventy-o?ie 
days,"  was  the  encouraging  response  of  that  veteran  sailor. 

These  long  "  northers,"  indeed,  which  sweep  down  through  Texas 
from  far  up  in  the  wintry  heart  of  the  North  American  continent,  are 
the  bane  of  navigation  in  the  Gulf. 

But  this  proved  not  to  be  one  of  the  long  ones.  On  the  third 
morning  we  waked  to  find  that  the  wind  had  lulled.  By  ten  o'clock 
the  sun  came  out  and  the  sky  soon  cleared.  The  lofty  white  peak  of 
Orizaba  was  then  espied  far  down  in  the  southwest.  By  three  o'clock 
the  steamer  had  run  in  under  lee  of  the  sheltering'  island  of  Sacri- 
ficios,  and  an  hour  later  took  up  her  pilot  and  steamed  into  her 
anchorage  beneath  the  old  fortress  of  San  Juan  de  Ulloa.  We  then 
saw  that  several  vessels  had  gone  ashore  in  the  roadstead,  and  so 
rough  was  the  water  in  the  port  that  it  was  not  till  the  next  day  that 
either  the  mails  or  the  passengers  could  be  landed. 

It  seemed  good,  indeed,  to  stand  on  the  firm  bosom  of  Mother 
Earth  once  more,  though  the  "motion"  still  lingered  in  our  head  or 
legs,  and  it  was  at  least  forty-eight  hours  ere  any  one  of  us  could 
fairly  walk  "  straight." 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

THE    HARBOR    OF    VERA    CRUZ.  A    FONDA.- — OFF     FOR    THE    CITY    OF    MEXICO. 

GRAND     SCENERY.  "  MUCHO     POLVO."  MEXICO     AT     EIGHT      P.M.  "  TRES 

PESO  "    ROOMS.  COLD  WEATHER.  A  DISMAL  SUPPER.  "  FOR  LA  MANANA." 

A    MORNING    WALK    IN    MEXICO. MOSES    IN    TROUBLE    AGAIN. 


AFE  through  the  "  norther,"  we  spent  a  very 
pleasant  day  in  Vera  Cruz,  the   sea-port 
of  Mexico,  on  the  wind-swept  and  sun- 
burnt sand-dunes  of  the  tierra  caliente. 
Despite  its  evil  reputation  for  yellow 
fever  and  other  malignant  diseases,  we 
found  Vera  Cruz  a  very  neat,  clean  little 
town  —  in  fact,  it  looks  as  if  it  had  been 
made    to    order   somewhere  else,   and 
brought  here  all  in  one  piece.     Its  har- 
bor, too,  is,  or  will  have  to  be,  a  made-to-order  job; 
when  complete  it  will  cost  about  $20,000,000.     An 
American   has   the   contract;   the   stakes   for   it  are 
driven  out  in  the  windy  roadstead. 

We  crossed  over  to  the  old  stone  castle  of  San 
Juan  de  Ulloa,  and  thoroughly  enjoyed  a  ramble  through  its  many- 
storied  towers,  casemates,  and  "bomb-proofs."  Formerly  it  was 
deemed  the  strongest  of  Spanish  America;  now  it  is  used  mainly  as 
a  state  prison. 

The  balance  of  the  afternoon  was  spent  at  the  handsome  rooms 

152 


ON  SHORE. 


153 


and  fine  library  of  the  Mercantile  Club;  and  at  eight  o'clock  we 
went,  according  to  custom  here,  to  take  our  tickets  over-night,  and 
have  our  baggage  weighed  for  the  railway  to  the  City  of  Mexico. 

At  four  o'clock  next  morning  the  waiters  at  the  Veracruzano 
were  hammering  at  our  doors.  For,  although  the  train  does  not 
leave  for  the  City  of  Mexico  till  six,  it  is  a  way  they  have  here  of 
giving  you  two  hours  to  get  to  the  station  in.  The  allowance  of  time 
seemed  all  the  more  liberal  from  the  fact  that  they  give  you  no  break- 
fast, not  even  coffee,  before  starting  out.  From  our  American  train- 
ing, we  were  but 
ten  minutes  dress- 
ing, and  had  con- 
sequently an  hour 
and  fifty  minutes  to 
walk  to  the  station, 
a  distance  of  two 
blocks.  It  is  one 
of  the  peculiarities 
of  Vera  Cruz  that 
you  need  not  take 
a  carriage  to  go  to 


VIEW   IN    TIERRA   CALIENTE. 


any  point  in  it.     A 

good  walker  can  go 

clean  around  the  city  in  ten  minutes,  and  have  time  left  over  for  a 

little  quiet  stroll  in  the  desert  outside. 

Fortunately,  we  were  able  to  get  coffee  at  a  little  fonda  near  the 
station, —  a  piece  of  good  luck  which  aided,  perhaps,  by  the  Mexican 
coffee,  stimulated  our  artist  comrade,  Karzy,  into  perpetrating  a  most 
atrocious  pun,  to  wit, —  that  he  was  fonder  of  that  fonda  than  any 
other  fond  her  whom  he  had  ever  met.  Coming  at  such  an  early 
hour  of  the  day,  before  breakfast,  too,  it  nearly  crushed  the  whole 
party.     Our  fellow-tourist  from  Indiana,  "  Moses  O.,"  was  but  barely 


i54 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE    TROPICS. 


able  to  stagger  across  the  street  to  the  station;  the  divinity  student 
seemed  also  much  affected. 

The  line  of  railway  from  Vera  Cruz  up  to  the  City  of  Mexico  is 
owned  by  an  English  company,  and  all  the  first-class  cars  are  in  com- 
partments, on  the  English  plan,  with  side-doors.  We  went  down  the 
platform  at  five  minutes  before  train  time  to  take  our  places,  but  the 
compartment  doors  were  still  locked.  When  asked  to  unlock  them, 
the  porter,  guard,  and  other  functionaries  stood  stolid  and  unmovable. 
What  the  hitch  was  we  could  not  conjecture;  we  "were  very  "green." 
Stein  and  the  divinity  student  grew  hot  about  it.  The)'  went  in 
search  of  the  station  agent,  but  got  very  little  satisfaction  from  him, 
I  believe. 

It  was  half  an  hour  before  the  doors  were  finally  opened;  the  fact 
"was  (at  least  we  were  subsequently  informed  so)  that  the  fellows 
were  waiting  to  be  "  feed."  One  even  had  the  impudence  to  assert 
that  he  had  lost  his  key,  and  to  simulate  a  search  for  it  alongside  the 
car.  When  the  truth  dawned  upon  us,  Moses  rubbed  his  hands. 
"Well,  well,  if  this  isn't  the  richest  thing  yet!"  said  he.  "Modest, 
are  n't  they?     Why  did  n't  they  tell  us  what  they  wanted?  " 

Owing  to  delay  collecting  "  fees,"  —  at  least  there  was  no  other 
visible  cause,  —  the  train  got  out  half  an  hour  late,  but  it  was  rather 
fortunate  for  us;  for  by  this  time  it  had  become  light,  and  almost  the 
first  object  that  gladdened  our  eyes  after  getting  out  of  the  city  was 
the  magnificent  milk-white  cone  of  Orizaba  towering  high  above 
everything  else,  up  in  the  northeast.  "  Ah!  don't  she  rise  gloriously?" 
Karzy  cried  out.  :!  Why  she  's  half  way  up  the  sky."  Orizaba  from 
the  coast  is,  indeed,  one  of  the  world's  grand  sights,  —  so  surprisingly 
lofty,  so  stately,  and  so  ethereally  pure  in  tint;  a  vision  of  beauty 
which  morning  or  evening  never  would  bring  satiety  nor  aught  save 
the  purest  pleasure. 

Speaking  of  this  ride  from  Vera  Cruz  up  to  the  City  of  Mexico, 
Mr.   Ober  has  very  aptly  described   it   as   "  a  journey  through   three 


TORTILLAS. 


J.55 


zones  in  one  day."  And  so  it  is.  For  the  first  nundred  kilometers 
across  the  tierra  caliente,  you  journey  in  the  tropics.  This  heated 
region  is  like  avast  hot-house,  —  a  wilderness  of  rank,  green  verdure. 
An  odor  of  vanilla  fills  the  air;  everywhere  are  palms  and  bananas, 
and  the  grass  huts  of  the  Indians,  in  groups,  or  standing  out  alone  in 
the  deep  shade,  complete  the  picture  of  tropic  semi-civilized  life. 

But,  meantime,  the  train  has  entered  the  first  dark-green  range  of 
hills,  and  steadily  winds  its  way  up  to  higher 
ground.  Here,  trees  of  the  temperate  zone  begin 
to  be  seen  in  forests;  the  shrubbery  is  overrun 
with  morning-glories.  There  are  coffee  planta- 
tions, and  the  orange  grows  wild.  Cordova  is 
reached,  said  to  be  a  populous  city,  but,  like  all 
Mexican  cities,  much  out  of  sight.  Crowds  of 
cotton-clad,  swarthy  people,  Indians,  come  about 
the  cars  at  the  stations,  laden  with  baskets  of 
fruit,  —  oranges,  bananas,  granaditas,  and  cus- 
tard apples,  and  trays  oi  tortillas,  smoking  hot; 
and  quaint  little  brown  girls  in  long  gowns  and 
black  rebosos  half  shading  their  faces,  look  up  at 
the  car  windows  and  cry  out  in  their  soft  voices, 
"  Senor,  qtriere  comprar  frutaf  "  There  are 
numerous   beggars,  too,   whose   low  whine,   " Por 


BEGGAR. 


nina,  niiia"    or  "Por    San  Jose"  —  "For  Saint 


Joseph's  sake  give  us  a  ^clacker,'"  —  is  a  less  agreeable  feature.  The 
government  wishes  to  suppress  beggary,  and  respectfully  advises 
tourists  not  to  give  alms. 

But  ere  long  this  zone  is  left  behind,  and  pine-clad  mountains  begin 
to  tower  on  either  hand.  We  are  toiling  up  heavy  grades  and  skirt- 
ing vast  ravines;  a  powerful  double-headed  engine,  a  "  Fairlie,"  has 
been  hooked  to  the  train;  it  seems  to  raise  us  by  main  strength. 
Within  a  distance  of  forty  kilometers  we  ascend  four  thousand  feet  — 


i56 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE   TROPICS. 


to  the  verge  of  eternal  snow;  and  still  Orizaba,  the  beautiful,  nearer 
now,  rears  its  white-tourmaline  crown,  lofty  and  stately  as  ever;  yet 
already  our  morning  ride  has  taken  us  to  an  altitude  of  eight  thousand 
feet  above  the  sea.  The  scenery  as  seen  by  a  traveller  from  the  car 
window  grows  terrific;  and  nervous  persons  are  apt  to  become  per- 
sonally unhappy.  The  track  winds  about  chasms  whose  depths  grow 
blue  with  mists.  A  single  rail  holds  the  car  from  these  depths,  and 
the  consequences  of  a  flaw  in  the  steel  assume  gigantic  proportions. 
Presently  a  town  is  seen  three  thousand  feet  below,  but  so  close 
beneath  the  window  that  the  car  might  tumble  into  it,  should  the  flaw 
suddenly  develop  itself;  but  this  is  not,  for  the  time,  a  pleasant  sub- 


ject of  conversation.  Moses 
was  observed  to  shut  his 
eyes  at  this  point,  and  Karzy 
declares  that  he  saw  his  lips 
move.     It  seemed   good  to 


enter  a  tunnel,  —  a 
tunnel  appeared  so 
much  safer.  In 
fact,  we  ran  through 
nineteen  tunnels,  if 
the  divinity  student 
counted  correctly. 

At  about  three 
in  the  afternoon, 
ffs  the  scene  changed 
rather  suddenly.  A 
f/  sensation  of  "down 
grade "  began  to 
be  felt.  We  had 
emerged  f  r  o  m 
amidst  the  colossal  scenery  of  the  Cordilleras  upon  the  dry  plateau,  or 
great  table-land  of  Mexico.  This  is  the  corn  and  wheat  country,  but 
at  this  season  of  the  3'ear  (February)  it  wears  a  painfully  sere  and  arid 
aspect.  The  scenery  is  now  that  of  a  great  plain,  with  barren,  rugged 
peaks  rising  out  of  it  at  intervals.  Numerous  pillars  of  dust,  some 
a  thousand  feet  in  height,  are  seen  slowly  moving  across  the  extensive 


TABLE-LAND   OF    MEXICO. 


MEXICO. 


J57 


plowed  tracts.  The  train,  too,  running  now  at  a  rapid  rate,  whirled 
up  a  perfect  "smother"  of  dust,  which  entered  the  car  in  choking 
clouds.  All  our  handkerchiefs  were  speedily  converted  into  respira- 
tors, which  afforded,  however,  but  slight  relief.  This  is  the  disagree- 
able portion  of  the  trip,  and  following  the  fresh  air  and  fine  scenery 
of  the  forenoon  it  makes  the  day  end  rather  miserably;  for  with  a 
dust-hurricane  so  dense  one  could  scarcely  draw  breath,  we  had  little 
enthusiasm  left  for  the  tall  peak  of  Malinche,  or  the  great  volcanoes 
Ixtaccihuatl  and  Popocatepetl,  which  were  announced  in  sight  at 
sunset.  "They  will  have  to  wait,"  said  Moses,  and  wrapping  his 
head  in  a  linen  coat  he  peacefully  relapsed  into  slumber;  and,  in  fact, 
there  was  but  one  man  awake  in  our  c&mpartment  when  the  train 
rolled  into  the  fine  stone  station  of  the  capital  at  eight  o'clock. 

''Mexico!" 

"And  here  we  are,"  yawned  Karzy,  rousing  up  and  shivering,  for 
it  was  cold;  the  air  gave  us  a  peculiarly  raw,  thin  sensation.  Mexico 
is  seven  thousand  five  hundred  feet  above  the  sea-level,  surrounded, 
too,  by  snow-clad  mountains. 

Getting  out  with  our  luggage,  we  found  ourselves  in  the  midst  of 
a  dense  crowd  of  people  wearing  tremendous  hats,  and  wrapped  up  to 
their  noses  in  what  looked  to  be  horse-blankets;  they  all  seemed  to 
be  very  cold.  At  length  two  coaches  were  secured,  and  embarking 
in  them,  we  were  driven  to  the  Hotel  Iturbide,  named  after  one  of 
Mexico's  two  emperors  of  brief  tenure.  Mexico,  indeed,  has  a  bad 
climate  for  emperors.  Several  electric  lights  cheered  up  the  darkness 
of  the  streets,  and  gave  us  glimpses  of  the  great  green  park  of  the 
Alameda,  as  we  drove  along.  Another  lighted  up  the  front  of  the 
hotel,  which  we  perceived  to  be  a  palatial  stone  structure,  adorned  with 
gargoyles  and  other  carvings.  But  within  the  great  open  patio  had 
a  very  cheerless  and  cold  aspect;  it  had  begun  to  rain,  too,  and  we 
found  the  preprietario  wrapped  up  to  his  nose  in  a  muffler.  He  did 
not  look   amiable  either.     The  scribe   mustered  all   his  Spanish,  and 


158  THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE   TROPICS. 

addressed  him  with,  "  Tiene  listed  cuartos  por  cinco?  "  (Have  you 
rooms  for  five?)  "  Si"  said  listed,  doubtfully,  then  held  up  three 
fingers  and  added,  "  Tres  pesos"  (three  dollars).  Tres  -pesos  por 
cinco  ?  "  queried  Stein. 

"  No,  tres  pesos  por  unoP 

"Well,  what  of  it?"  cried  Moses,  greatly  offended  at  this  prema- 
ture broaching  of  the  terms  on  the  part  of  our  host.  "Who  asked 
you  the  price?     Let  us  see  your  rooms." 

At  length  we  were  established  in  three  rooms  up  what  seemed 
ten  or  twelve  flights  of  stairs.  After  a  struggle,  water  was  pro- 
cured; but  no  soap  nor  matches  could  be  had  in  the  hotel,  and  the 
only  light  was  a  single  candle.  There  was  no  fire  in  the  rooms,  and 
there  could  be  none,  for  there  are  neither  stoves  nor  grates  in 
Mexico. 

Finally,  we  got  washed,  and,  having  wiped  ourselves  on  the  coun- 
terpane of  a  bed,  went  down  to  dinner,  as  we  supposed.  It  then 
transpired  that  there  was  no  table  in  the  hotel,  and  that  the  tres  pesos 
was  lodging,  merely.  A  restaurant  was  pointed  out  to  us;  and,  sally- 
ing forth  in  the  rain,  we  were  at  length  supplied  with  soup,  tea,  and 
pan  (bread  in  flinty  billets).  We  sat  and  shivered,  as  we  ate,  with 
our  overcoats  on,  then  went  back  to  our  wretchedly  cold,  tres-pesos 
rooms,  and  turned  in,  —  as  thoroughly  disgusted  with  Mexico  as  is 
possible  for  a  party  to  be. 

However,  we  felt  better  and  more  hopeful  in  the  morning,  though 
Karzy  and  Stein  complained  of  sleeping  cold,  and  as  soon  as  it  was 
fairly  day  started  out  to  get  breakfast  and  see  the  town.  It  had  rained 
all  night;  the  sky  was  lowering  and  black,  and  the  streets  were  well 
covered  with  sticky,  black  mud.  There  was,  morever,  a  horrible 
odor  abroad,  which  we  at  first  conjectured  to  be  that  of  the  national 
beverage,  pulque,  but  which  we  learned  to  be  from  the  city  gas, 
which  is  manufactured  in  part  from  wood.  It  upset  Karzy's  stomach 
completely.     "I  never  can  eat  a  mouthful  in  this   hole,"  he  groaned. 


NEW  EXPERIENCES. 


J59 


The  street  was  full  of  cotton-dressed,  barefooted  Indians  carrying 
every  conceivable  sort  of  burden,  some  of  them  running,  and  almost 
the  first  rod  out  of  the  hotel  we  had  a  collision  with  a  man  with  a 
four-story  hen-coop  on  his  back,  the  bottom  story  full  of  eggs,  and  the 
others  alive  with  chickens  and  turkeys.  The  fellow  came  trotting 
plump  into  us,  and  the  stone  flags  being  slippery  (I  do  not  think  any- 
body shoved  him),  down  he  went,  coop  and  all,  and  a  general  crash 
of  eggs  and  flutter  of  chickens  followed. 

The  man  got  up  from  under  the  wreck, 
muttering,  and  very  yellow ;  and  his  fellows, 
gathering  in  a  crowd   about  us,   cried   out, 
"  Disgracia  !  "  and  "  Malo  I  Malo  I  "     Stein 
gave     him    a    silver    -peso,    which    at    once 
caused   his   face   to   brighten;    and   we   got 
away  without   further  disturbance,  but  had 
not   gone    a    block  when    another    collision 
occurred  between   Moses   and    two    Indians 
carrying    a    Mexican    gentleman    in   a 
chair.     "  Why,  these  are  the  most  get- 
under-foot-people    I    ever  saw,"  cried 
Moses.     "A  man  cannot  walk  here." 

But  it  turned  out  that  we  were  the 


get-under-foot 


party    ourselves ;     we 


were  trying  to  pass  people  by  turning  hen-coop. 

to  the  right;  in  Mexico  one  must  turn 

to  the  left,  and  this  is  a  matter  worth  attending  to  when  you  meet  an 

Indian  porter  with  a  load  of  green  beef  on  his  back,  approaching  at 

a  run. 

Despite  the  mud  and  the  lowering  sky,  our  first  impressions  of  the 
city  were  rather  favorable.  Somebody  has  said  that "  Mexican  houses 
are  all  jails  "  in  appearance,  being  in  the  Spanish  style  of  architec- 
ture, with  barred  windows  and  enclosed  stone-paved  patios.     In  the 


i6o 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE    TROPICS. 


City  of  Mexico  the  houses  and  churches  are  all  stone-built,  and  often 
very  prettily  ornamented.  The  streets  are  broad,  and  cross  at  right- 
angles.  Looking  down  a  street  anywhere,  you  can  always  see  the 
mountains  "which  wall  in  the  valley.  On  this  first  morning  of  our 
visit,  these  were  all  snow-clad.  It  was  an  unusually  cold  week,  we 
were  told,  even  for  winter,  the  two  great  volcanoes  being  commonly 
the  only  snow-mountains  in  sight.     We  went  first  to  the  Alameda,  a 


CALENDAR-STONE. 


pleasant  though  rather  poorly-kept  park,  looking  like  an  old  forest, 
then  to  the  Plaza,  the  grand  central  public  square  of  the  city,  where 
are  the  government  palace  and  the  great  cathedral  of  Mexico. 
This  latter  is  probably  on  the  whole  the  finest  church  in  the  Western 
hemisphere.  This  statement  may  be  challenged,  being  a  broad  one, 
but  we  think  so.  In  the  outer  wall,  near  the  southwest  corner,  is  set 
the  famous  calendar-stone  of  the  Aztecs,  which  Stein  has  made  the  cus- 


THE  MUSEUM.  IgI 

tomary  effort  to  interpret.     Many  other  Aztec  relics  are  to  be  seen  in 
the  Museum,  which  no  tourist  should  neglect  to  visit. 

By  this  time  nosotros  tenemos  hambre;  or,  in  other  words,  we  were 
hungry.  Even  Karzy's  nose,  diverted  by  the  flowers  in  the  parterres 
about  the  cathedral  from  the  sour  odors  in  the  streets,  had  ceased  to 
torture  him.  A  fellow-countryman  with  whom  we  fell  in  directed 
us  to  a  better  restaurant,  —  the  Concordia.  Resorting  thither,  we 
were  served  with  excellent  coffee,  toast,  and  beefsteak.  But,  oh!  the 
butter!  —  the  mantequilla.  It  was  simply  maiiteca  (lard).  Karzy 
tasted  it  unsuspiciously;  then  his  but  half-quieted  stomach  took  alarm 
afresh.  "  Oh,  for  a  pound  of  good,  gilt-edged  Yankee  oleomargarine," 
he  sighed.  Even  Moses  was  observed  sedulously  scraping  the  stuff 
off  his  beefsteak.  "What 's  the  matter,  Moses?  "  Stein  called  across 
to  him. 

"Oh,  nothing  much,"  he  replied.  "Only  when  I  eat  lard  for  but- 
ter I  like  to  personally  know  my  hog." 

Numerous  lines  of  horse-cars,  or  tranvias,  lead  out  along  the  cause- 
ways from  the  city  to  all  the  suburbs  and  points  of  interest.  Most  of 
these  run  first,  second,  and  third-class  cars.  Entering  a  car  marked 
Santa  Anita,  we  went  out  to  what  is  termed  the  old  Paseo,  near  the 
canal,  by  which  the  Indians  fetch  all  kinds  of  fruits,  vegetables,  and 
fodder  into  the  city  in  canoes  and  barges.  One  barge  in  particular  here 
attracted  the  attention  of  our  comrade,  Moses.  It  was  loaded  with 
what  looked  to  be  "round  hogs";  and  they  were  the  roundest  hogs 
imaginable.  Just  the  heads  and  bristles  had  been  removed;  the  car- 
casses had  not  been  opened  apparently,  and  the  legs  stuck  up  stiff  as 
pokers.  Now,  Moses  is  a  judge  of  pork,  having  been  reared  in  a 
section  of  the  country  where  fat  pigs  abound.  "By  Jove!  "  quoth  he; 
"Hold  on!  Only  look  at  those  shotes,  will  yon?  Why,  those  are 
the  fattest  pigs  I  ever  saw  in  my  days!  They  look  as  if  their  hides 
would  burst!  Wonder  what  breed  the}'  can  be?  I  must  find  out. 
We  want  just  that  kind  of  hog  in   Indiana.     Never  saw   such   hard, 


\6z 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  &LUB  TV  THE   TROPICS 


wumumfc 


Ca.tfal. 


solid-looking 
pork,  never!  Ex- 
cuse me  a  mo- 
ment, gentlemen, 
I  wish  to  look 
at  those  pigs 
closely." 

Moses  carries 
a  cane  with  what 

Karzy  calls  a  "toasting-fork"  in 
it.  Some  would  call  it  a  sword- 
cane;  you  can  pull  out  a  long, 
slim  rapier  attached  to  the  handle, 
which  is  supposed  to  be  a  weapon 
of  defence.  Moses  first  gave  one 
of  the  hogs  a  punch  with  the  fer- 
ule of  his  cane.  Then,  wishing  to 
test  the  quality  of  the  pork,  I  pre- 
sume, he  drew  out  the  "  toasting- 
fork  "     and    gave    the    carcass    a 


smart  thrust  with  it,  when,  presto! 
there  squirted  up  from  the  punc- 
ture into  his  very  face,  and  all 
over  his  checked  ulster,  a  singu- 
lar  milky  liquor!  Moses  jumped 
back  and  spit.  The  "  hog  "  rapidly 
collapsed,  and  the  Indians,  who 
had  been  observing  us,  came  for- 
ward, seemingly 
aggrieved  and 
jabbering  about 
it.  Other  Indians,, 
not  owners,  gath- 
ered round,  and  a 
horse-laugh  rose, 
in  which  we   all 


ClTX    of    Mex\co 


PULQC/E.  l63 

joined,  perforce  —  except  Moses.  He  gave  us  one  reproachful  look; 
then  he  looked  at  the  hog  again,  and  seemed  on  the  point  of  col- 
lapsing himself.  But  just  at  that  moment  his  eye  chancing  to  fall  on 
a  public  coach  which  was  passing,  he  made  a  sudden  break,  and 
captured  it.  Turning  at  the  door,  he  shied  a  silver  peso  among  the 
Indians,  then  disappeared  inside.  " Pronto !  Pronto!"  we  heard 
him  urging  the  driver;  and  away  they  went  at  a  rapid  pace. 

"He  will  leave  the  country!"  exclaimed  Stein.  "Chase  him! 
Catch  him!" 

We  ran  after  him  a  little  way,  then  got  another  coach,  and  pursued 
him  in  that.  But  he  got  to  the  Hotel  Iturbide,  and  had  taken  refuge  in 
his  room  when  we  arrived.  The  door  was  locked.  It  did  no  good  to 
knock;  we  could  not  raise  him.  "He's  paralyzed,"  Karzy  said. 
Though  we  went  regularly  to  knock  and  call  him  every  hour,  nothing 
was  heard  from  him  till  evening.     He  had  gone  to  bed. 

Thus  ended  our  first  day  in  Mexico. 

Those  "hogs"  were  hog-skins  full  of  pulque,  —  the  national  lager 
beer. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

ABOUT    THE     CITY.  AN    EARTHQUAKE.  THE    NEW    RAILROADS. NORTHWARD 

OVER  THE  CENTRAL.  MEXICAN  SCENERY. THE  GRAND  TAHOE. TALK  WITH 

AN  ENGINEER.  LASSOING  A  LOCOMOTIVE. QUERETARO. THE  LAST  HOURS 

OF  MAXIMILIAN. LA  SIERRE  DE    LAS    COMPANAS. SOME    INCIDENTS    OF   THE 

EXECUTION. 


vOR  a  good  view  of  Mexico  City  and  the  famous 
valley,  one  should  climb  the  south  tower  of  the 
cathedral  at  the  Plaza.  You  go  up  a  little  flight 
of  stone  steps  to  the  door  of  the  tower,  and  pull  at  the 
end  of  a  rope  which  hangs  invitingly  out.  Presently 
the  door  opens,  as  if  of  its  own  accord,  for  you  will 
see  no  one  inside  it;  but  far  up  the  winding  stone  stair 
you  will  find  an  Indian  woman  waiting  your  ascent.  To  her  you  pay 
toll,  —  un  real,  twelve  cents. 

There  are  thirty  bells  in  this  one  tower,  three  or  four  of  them  of 
enormous  proportions.  It  is  advisable  to  go  up  at  a  time  when  these 
religious  monitors  are  not  addressing  themselves  to  the  population. 

The  view  is  a  fine  one.  The  city  with  its  environment  of  green 
oroves,  and  still  greener  maguey  plantations,  lies  at  your  feet.  To 
the  northeast  shines  the  great  Lake  Tezcoco.  East,  west,  and  north 
rise  the  strong  mountain-walls  of  the  valley;  and  in  the  south  tower 
into  the  clouds  the  great  white  guardian  volcanoes,  Ixtaccihuatl  and 

Popoctapaetl. 

164 


ABOUT  THE   CITY. 


167 


Another  fine  view  maybe  had  by  ascending  —  as  we  did  —  one 
of  the  mountains  back  of  the  suburban  village  of  Guadaloupe. 

Guadaloupe  itself  is  well  worth  a  visit.  Many  tourists  go  there 
to  admire  the  solid  silver  railing  round  the  altar  in  the  old  church, 
and  to  taste  the  santa  agna  (holy  water)  of  the  spring  in  the  Chapel 
of  Our  Lady  of  Guadaloupe.  The  water  gushes  up  copiously 
from  somewhere  beneath  the  chapel.  It  is  very  yellow,  and  tastes  a 
little  like  soda  water;  and  it  is  good  for  anything  that  chances  to  ail 

you.  There  is  a  copper  pot  to  drink  it 
from,  and  a  little  box  to  put  your  money 
in.  You  take  off  your  hat  when  you 
enter. 

Here,  according  to  the  faith  of  the 
country,  Santa  Maria,  the  virgin,  has 
appeared  three  times.  You  cannot 
well  doubt  it,  for  the  last  time  she  left 
her  image  impressed  on  the  coarse 
serape  of  a  poor  Indian.  We  saw  the 
serape.  She  must  certainly  have  come 
in  forcible  contact  with  it;  for  there  is 
her  impress,  or  image,  as  plain  as  day, 
driven  right  into  the  serape.  And  yet 
some  heedless  Americans  whom  we  saw 
had  the  temerity  to  make  light  of  it; 
some  persons  are  constitutionally  with- 
out faith.  The  serape  is  framed  in  gold. 
The  view  from  the  mountain  is  very  good.  Down  to  the  east  lies 
the  great  lake,  said  to  be  five  feet  higher  than  the  plain  on  which  the 
city  stands.  When  Cortez  and  his  band  of  filibusters  first  invaded 
the  country  and  entered  the  Aztec  capital  the  lake,  or  lakes,  came  up 
into  the  very  streets.  Much  of  the  business  was  then  done  in  boats, 
on  canals.     Since  the   Spaniards  conquered  the   Indians   and   rebuilt 


VIRGIN'    OF   GUADALOUPE. 


i68 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE   TROPICS. 


the  city,  the  lakes  have  been  greatly  reduced,  partly  by  the  gran 
ta/we,  or  drain,  and  partly  by  embankments.  Probably,  too,  there 
is  less  rain  and  greater  evaporation  than  formerly,  owing  to  the  burn- 
ing and  clearing  off  of  the  forests.  But  the  entire  plain  rests  in  water. 
They  have  only  to  dig  down  two  or  three  feet  anywhere,  when  water 
appears  in  the  hole. 


CATHEDRAL,   MEXICO. 


Last  season  (1S82)  there  was  an  earthquake  —  a  pretty  serious 
affair — which  shook  the  city  badly,  and  cracked  many  houses.  An 
American  lad}-,  who  was  walking  in  the  Alameda  at  the  time,  tells 
us  that  the  earth  shook  so  violently  that  it  was  with  difficulty  that 
she  kept  her  footing;  and  that  looking  down  the  long  promenade,  she 
distinctly  saw  the  ground  rolling'  toward  her  in  waves.  This  phe- 
nomenon is  accounted  for  by  the  presence  of  so  much  water  in  the  plain. 


QUERETARO.  I6o 

The  first  ten  days  of  our  visit  were  rendered  miserable  by  cold 
rain  in  the  city  and  snow  on  the  mountains  every  day.  Four  Indians 
froze  to  death  in  the  streets  one  night;  it  was  an  unusually  severe 
time.  Everybody  suffered,  for  this  is  ajire/ess  country;  there  is  not 
a  grate  nor  a  stove  to  be  had  for  cash  or  affection.  When  we  sat 
down  we  were  compelled  to  put  on  great-coats  and  gloves.  Mean- 
time we  changed  our  memorable  tres-pesos  quarters  at  the  Iturbide 
for  three  rooms  in  a  house  on  the  Alameda;  very  comfortable  rooms, 
and  fairly  well-furnished,  for  Mexico,  at  the  rate  of  seventy-five  dol- 
lars per  month.  I  mention  the  fact  for  the  purpose  of  showing  the 
average  rate  of  rents  in  the  capital  at  the  present  time.  Formerly 
such  rooms  could  have  been  hired  for  thirty  or  forty  dollars.  But 
the  new  railroads,  and  the  sudden  rush  of  Americans  into  the  country, 
have  set  everything  "booming."  Real  estate  is  held  at  fabulous  prices. 
The  city  was  full  of  sharp-looking  Americans  —  "  schemers."  We 
met  them  everywhere,  some  worthy  men,  and  some  —  well,  it  would 
not  afflict  us  if  we  were  never  to  meet  them  again.  It  is  to  be  feared 
that  the  Mexicans  will  form  a  none-too-good  opinion  of  us  from  some 
of  our  -paisanas,  who  are  scouring  the  country  on  the  lookout  for 
"  chances." 

On  the  8th  of  March  we  left  the  city  and  went  to  Queretaro,  two 
hundred  and  sixty  kilometers  to  the  northward  by  the  new  line  of  the 
Mexican  Central  railway,  'which  at  present  writing  is  running  its  trains 
to  Lagos,  and  is  being  rapidly  finished  up  to  Aguas  Calientes.  Within 
two  years  the  Boston  company  building  it,  hope  to  connect  this  south- 
ern division  of  their  line  with  the  northern  division  at  present  built  to 
Chihuahua.  Railway  connection  with  the  United  States  will  then  be 
complete.  Still  another  narrow  gauge  line,  the  National,  is  surveyed 
and  partially  built  to  Laredo,  Texas,  by  way  of  Monterey.  Then 
there  is  a  proposed  Mexican  Southern,  in  fact,  six  or  eight  other  pro- 
posed lines;  so  that  if  all  these  enterprises  prosper  Mexico  will  not 
long  lack  railroads.     Judging  from  the  appearances  along  the  line   of 


L*0  THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE   TROPICS. 

southern  division   of  the  Central   there  will  be  business  enough;   its 
cars  were  thronged  with  passengers,  particularly  the  second  and  third . 
class;  long,  heavy  freight  trains  were  passed  on  the  sidings,  and  great 
piles  of  freight  lay  about  the  stations. 

Our  young  people  visiting  Mexico  will  surely  be  disappointed  in 
the  looks  and  general  appearance  of  the  country  ;  because  travellers 
and  writers  have  been  accustomed  to  speak  of  it  as  a  land  where  all 
fruits,  grasses,  and  trees  grow  with  tropical  luxuriance.  Travelling 
north  along  the  Central  we  saw  no  luxuriance  whatever,  but  rather 
sterile,  stonv,  rust-brown  patches  of  plain  amidst  equally  stony, 
naked  hills  and  mountains.  What  wood  there  is  looks  to  be  stunted 
scrub,  worthless  for  anything  save  poor  fuel.  Large  tracts  are  covered 
with  prickly-pear,  which  here  grows  to  an  ugly  shrub  six  or  eight  feet 
in  height.  We  were  even  reduced  to  the  extremity  of  admiring  its 
yellow  blossoms.  At  rare  intervals  narrow  green  belts  and  plats,  like 
oases  in  a  desert,  are  passed  alongside  of  lakes  and  rivers.  These 
are  produced  by  irrigation.  Many  of  the  cultivated  fields  are  so 
coated  with  small  stones  that  even  a  New  England  farmer  would  give 
them  up  in  despair.  Amidst  these  you  will  see  Indians  plowing  with 
a  forked  stick  —  a  tree  which  chances  to  have  the  necessaiy  crotch. 
This  is  still  the  plow  of  Mexico,  the  plow  of  three  thousand  years 
ago;  and  for  a  forked  stick  it  does  its  work  remarkably  well;  I  doubt 
if  an  American  mould-board  plow  would  work  at  all  amongst  the 
stones. 

Still  further  north  the  land  is  not  all  as  bad;  there  are  some  fine  areas 
of  good  soil;  but  the  air  of  aridity  and  desolation  remains.  It  is  the 
aspect  and  scenery  of  the  great  Rocky  Mountain  chain,  the  general 
features  of  which  are  the  same  from  Patagonia  to  Alaska.  Some 
states  of  Mexico,  like  Michoacan,  and  some  districts  along  the  coast, 
are  different;  but  it  is  a  mistake  to  picture  Mexico  as  in  any  sense  a 
luxuriant  country.  As  compared  with  the  United  States  east  ot  the 
Mississippi,  it  is  a  sterile  and  a  desolate  country. 


THE  PEOPLE. 


171 


And  the  people,  the  common  people,  —  well,  they  are  Indians, 
the  descendants  of  the  Aztecs  and  other  tribes  whom  the  Spanish 
subjugated.  On  these 
stony  tracts  the)'  live 
in  little  stone  huts;  on 
clayey  tracts  they  live 
in  adobe  or  mud  huts, 
and  in  the  tierra  cali- 
ente  they  live  in  grass 
and  palm  huts,  —  al- 
ways in  huts,  often 
in  an  utterly  meagre, 
dirty  condition.  What 
railroads  and  other 
modern  improvements 
will  do  for  them  re- 
mains to  be  demon- 
strated. 

The  country  pro- 
prietors live  at  ranchos 
on  their  haciendas,  or 
large  farms,  in  more 
or  less  comfort;  it  is 
rare  that  one  sees  a 
really  pretty  or  pic- 
turesque place. 
Throughout  Mexico 
the  hamlets  and  small 
cities  all  look  alike. 
There  is  the  church, 
or  churches,  the  stiff 
whitish  blocks  of  stone  A  dangerous  adventure. 


172 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB   IN  THE   TROPICS. 


houses,  the  "plaza,"  and  the  belt  of  trees*  at  a  distance  of  a  mile  it 
would  be  difficult  to  distinguish  one  from  another. 

At  a  distance  of  forty  or  fifty  kilometers  from  the  City  of  Mexico, 
the  train  entered  and  ran  along  the  side  of  a  very  singular  canon.  It 
looked  strangely,  as  if  excavated  by  human  labor,  yet  seemed  far  too 
long,  too  deep,  too  vast. 

"  What  can  this  gorge  be  ?  "  Karzy  exclaimed. 

"This?  Why  this  must  be  the  gran  tahoe"  said  Stein. 

It  was,  indeed,  that  stupendous  tunnel,  or  drain,  devised  and  dug  by 
the  Conquerors  to  protect  the  valley  of  Mexico  against  possible 'inun- 
dation. For  the  lakes  of  the  city  valley,  having  no  outlet  save  from 
evaporation,  were  liable  to  rise  on  some  exceptionally  wet  season  and 
drown  out  the  city.  For  three  or  four  miles  a  niche  has  been  dug 
along  the  side  of  the  tahoe  for  the  railway.  Looking  out  of  the  car 
window,  you  see  the  water  foaming  along  the  bed  of  the  drain  a  hun- 
dred or  a  hundred  and  fifty  feet  beneath.  From  earliest  time  it  has 
been  a  place  fatal  to  human  life.  Sixty  thousand  Indians  are  said  to 
have  lost  their  lives  here  when  the  tahoe  was  dug.  Originally  the 
drain  was  a  tunnel,  and  five  thousand  perished  at  a  single  cave-in  of 
the  superincumbent  ledges  and  earth.  A  car-load  of  Americans  may 
be  the  next  victims.  Our  comrade,  Stein,  has  conversed  with  the 
engineer  of  the  road,  who  asserts  that  the  road-bed  here  rests  on  tepi- 
caddy,  and  is  as  "  firm  as  a  rock."  Engineers  ought  to  understand 
their  business,  and  generally  do;  and  time  may  demonstrate  the  ada- 
mantine character  of  tepicaddy. 

Journeying  on,  a  diversion  was  suddenly  created  by  so  vigorous  an 
application  of  the  air-brakes,  that  we  were  all  nearly  driven  out  of 
our  seats.  The  train  came  to  an  abrupt  halt.  Getting  out,  it  was 
found  that  we  had  run  over  a  Mexican  on  horseback.  The  horse  was 
killed,  but  the  man  had  landed  on  his  feet  unhurt.  These  people 
will  persist,  despite  all  warning,  in  riding  their  horses  on  the  line.  In 
this  case  the  fellow  was  riding  toward  the  train;  the  track  was  a 
straight  line,  and  he  must  have  seen  the  locomotive  two  miles  away. 


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Was  he  trying  to  commit  suicide,  or  what?"  Moses  asked  the 
neer. 

"  Suicide!  no!  he  's  too  big  a  blessed  fool  for  that!  "  exclaimed  the 
man  of  valves  and  levers,  who  was  greatly  disgusted.  "  He  thought 
he'd  have  time  enough  to  get  off,  or  he  thought  I'd  stop;  or,  perhaps, 
the  blessed  lunkhead  was  asleep  on  his  horse." 

"  Well,  he  got  w*aked  up  that  time,"  said  Karzy. 

"  Yes,  and  he  '11  go  now  and  try  to  make  the  company  pay  for  his 
horse,"  said  the  engineer.  "And  if  I'd  happened  to  kill  him  they 
would' have  had  me  in  jail  six  months  for  it.  That's  the  kind  of  folks 
they  are  here." 

Meantime  the  Mexican  stood  looking  stolidly  at  his  expiring 
horse,  with  now  and  then  a  sullen  glance  at  the  locomotive.  Several 
persons  spoke  to  him,  but  he  made  no  reply. 

"In  my  mind's  eye,"  said  Moses,  "  I  see  that  chap  putting  a  little 
pile  of  stones  on  the  track  some  dark  night." 

"Yes,  they  do  that,"  said  the  engineer,  a  Massachusetts  man. 
"  They  did  it  a  good  deal  when  we  first  began  to  run  here  last  season. 
I  'd  often  see  a  heap  of  stones  on  the  rail  ahead.  At  first  I  used  to 
stop  and  pick  'em  off;  I  got  sick  of  that  and  paid  no  attention  to  them. 
The  cow-catcher  or  the  wheels  will  always  knock  'em  a-going.  The 
blessed  rascals  are  too  lazy  to  put  on  big  ones.  When  they  found  I 
paid  no  attention,  they  stopped  it." 

What  this  man  said  about  being  put  in  jail,  had  he  chanced  to  kill 
the  Mexican  on  horseback,  was  by  no  means  idle  talk.  Later  in  the 
day  we  conversed  with  another  engineer  who  had  been  in  jail  two 
months,  I  think  he  said,  for  killing  a  "rural"  who  had  tried  to  lasso 
the  locomotive.  These  "  rurals "  are  a  kind  of  mounted  police  for 
the  back  country;  wild  fellows,  but  pretty  good  soldiers.  This  one 
had  probably  taken  too  much  pulque.  Seeing  a  train  coming,  he 
dashed  out  from  behind  some  bushes,  and  flung  his  lasso  at  the  funnel 
of  the  engine.     It  missed  the  funnel,  but  caught  on  the  whistle.     The 


176 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE   TROPICS. 


other  end  of  the  lasso  was  tied  fast  to  the  saddle  as  usual;  and  these 
lassos  are  inordinately  strong  lines  of  braided  green  hide.  It  held, 
and  in  an  instant  Mr.  "  Rural  "  and  his  horse  were  swung  up  against 
the  side  of  the  tender  with  a  tremendous  thump,  which  killed  both. 
Wherein  the  engineer  was  blamable  was  not  easy  to  see,  yet  he  was 
arrested  and  put  in  jail,  pending  a  long-winded  examination  of  the 
affair. 

Six  miles  below  Queretaro  the  line  passes  through  a  perfect  little 
paradise  of  a  valley,  —  a  leafy  green  garden,  along  a  small  river  with 
high,  rocky,  barren  mountains  on  each  side.  Amidst  the  trees  there 
is  a  considerable  city,  half-hidden;  and  soon  we  passed  three  or  four 
cotton  factories.  This  is  the  seat  of  Sehor  Rubio's  attempt  to  manu- 
facture cottons  in  Mexico.  As  yet  it  is  an  experiment,  but  bids  fair 
to  be  moderately  successful.  The  power  for  the  factories  is  in  part 
from  steam  and  in  part  from  a  very  singular  and  copious  spring,  which 
gushes  from  the  mountain-side  in  volume  of  about  a  cubic  meter  01 
water  per  second. 

Passing  beneath  a  lofty  aqueduct,  we  were  soon  at  Queretaro, 
thought  by  many  to  be  the  prettiest  city  in  Mexico.  It  is  situated  in 
the  midst  of  a  rather  dreary  landscape,  but  is  a  cleanly,  well-built 
town,  with  pretty  churches  and  shady  plazas.  We  were  very  decently 
lodged  here  for  Mexico,  at  the  new  hotel,  Ferro-Carril  (Railroad 
House),  where  we  found  a  jolly  landlord,  who  really  exerted  himself 
(a  most  unusual  thing  in  this  country)  to  make  us  comfortable. 

It  was  here  in  Queretaro  that  the  unfortunate  Emperor  Maximilian 
made  his  last  stand  against  the  patriot  army  under  Juarez.  The  town 
still  bears  marks  of  the  final  bombardment.  Deserted  by  the  French, 
who  had  placed  him  on  the  throne  of  Mexico  by  force  of  arms,  the 
poor  fellow  had  still  a  great  many  warm  friends,  endeared  to  him  per- 
sonally as  well  as  from  hope  of  political  advancement.  And  in  Mira- 
raon,  Mexia,  and  Mendez  he  had  three  able  and  devoted  officers,  — 
all  Mexicans.     Mendez  was  shot   as  soon  as  taken,  by  order  of  the 


DEATH  OF  MAXIMILIAN. 


I77 


patriot  general.  They  stood  him  up  against  the  wall  of  the  square 
next  the  railway  station,  and  shot  him  in  the  back  for  a  traitor  to  his 
country.  He  resisted  to  the  last,  and  kept  whirling  round  and  crying, 
"  Shoot  mc  in  the  breast!   I  am  no  traitor!  " 

Miramon  and  Mexia  were  imprisoned  for  some  months  along  with 
Maximilian  in  the  old  convent  here,  and  finally  executed  with  him  in 
1867. 

The  people  here  speak  of  Maximilian  as  a  good-hearted  and  kindly 
man,  but  weak  in  character.  They  say  that  the  patriot  leaders  did 
not  really  wish  to  shed  his  blood,  and  that  he  might  have  escaped  his 
hard  fate  had  he  been  willing  to  go  out  of  the  country  privately.  Sehor 
Rubio  paid  seven  thousand  dollars  out  of  his  private  purse  to  a  com- 
pany of  soldiers  to  take  him  down  to  the  coast,  and  put  him  aboard  some 
vessel.  Finally,  on  the  night  before  the  execution,  everything  was 
"  fixed  "  with  the  guards  and  their  officers  for  his  escape,  and  a  priest 
sent  to  him  to  acquaint  him  with  the  fact.  "  But  what  of  Miramon 
and  Mexia?"  he  asked  the  messenger.  "  Oh,  they  will  be  shot  for  a 
certainty,"  was  the  reply.  "  Go  back,"  he  said.  "  I  will  accept  no 
terms  which  do  not  include  them." 

The  truth  seems  to  have  been  that  Maximilian  did  not  at  first 
realize  his  personal  danger,  having  too  much  faith,  perhaps,  in  "that 
divinity  that  doth  hedge  about  a  king,"  and  that  finally  he  acted  from 
an  exalted  sense  of  honor. 

When  he  received  intelligence  that  the  French  army  had  been 
ordered  home  from  Mexico,  he  is  said  to  have  stamped  on  the  floor 
and  to  have  exclaimed,  "  They  leave  me  no  choice  betwixt  death  and 
disgrace! " 

The  United  States  acted  well  and  with  dignity  in  this  affair,  and 
its  action  has  done  much  to  heal  the  breach  between  the  two  repub- 
lics occasioned  by  the  war  of  1844.  The  French  invasion  of  Mexico 
was  an  outrage  upon  both  republics.  It  was  made  at  a  time  when  the 
United  States  was  powerless  to  resist  it  on  account  of  the  civil  war. 


178 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE    TROPICS. 


Immediately  after  that  war  was  finished  our  government,  through  Sec- 
retary Seward,  despatched  a  note  to  the  French  Emperor,  giving  him 
in  plain  terms  six  months  to  withdraw  his  forces  from  Mexico.  The 
Napoleonic  fox  did  not  need  a  second  invitation,  and  his  unfortunate 
all}-,  the  Austrian  Grand  Duke,  was  abandoned  to  the  tender  mercies 
of  the  Mexicans.  As  speedily  as  possible  the  various  French  garri- 
sons were  withdrawn  from  the  different  states  and  cities,  and  concen- 
trated at  the  City  of  Mexico.  From  this  point  they  sallied  forth  one 
fine  morning,  with  banners  flying  and  drums  beating,  to  march  down 
to  the  coast  at  Vera  Cruz.     The  Mexicans  stood  at  their  doors  and 


MAXIMILIAN. 


CARLOTTA. 


hooted  them  out  of  town.  During  the  period  of  occupation  they  had 
ransacked  Mexico  thoroughly  from  Tehuantepec  to  Chihuahua,  and 
taught  the  Mexicans  more  tricks  than  they  had  learned  before  in  a 
hundred  years.  "  We  were  bad  enough  before  they  came,"  the  Mexi- 
cans naively  say;  "but  the  French  have  taught  us  new  deviltries." 

Left  with  "  no  choice  betwixt  disgrace  and  death,"  Maximilian 
seems  to  have  deliberately  chosen  the  latter,  despite  the  efforts  of 
his  friends  and  the  entreaties  of  his  heroic  wife.  Mr.  Seward  is  known 
to  have  recommended  that  his  life  be  spared.  Juarez  replied,  "A  great 
and  powerful  nation  like  the  United  States  can  afford  to  be  merciful; 
Mexico  is  too  poor  and  weak." 


DEATH  OF  MAXIMILIAN. 


179 


The  place  of  execution  is  a  dreary  little  hill,  sparsely  covered  with 
thorn  scrub  and  prickly-pear,  and  strewn  with  rusty-brown  stones. 
The}'  call  it  the  Sierra  de  las  companias,  the  hill  of  the  bells;  it  is 
not  quite  a  mile  out  of  Queretaro.  The  three  doomed  men  were  taken 
from  the  convent  out  to  this  desolate  spot  in  three  of  the  public 
coaches.  A  priest  accompanied  Maximilian.  The  spectators  tell 
some  rather  pathetic  incidents  of  the  morning.  The  priest  became  so 
affected  that  he  fainted.  Taking  a  little  bottle  of  smelling-salts  from 
his  pocket  Maximilian  kindly  assisted  to  revive  him.  From  some 
cause  the  door  of  his  coach  stuck  fast;  he  stepped  lightly  out  through 
the  panel,  having  lowered  the  glass  drop.  The  entire  patriot  army 
was  drawn  up  on  and  around  the  hill,  and  a  wall  of  adobes  had  been 
laid  up  behind  where  the  unfortunate  men  were  to  stand  to  receive 
the  bullets  of  the  firing  party.  It  was  arranged  that  Maximilian 
should  stand  in  the  centre,  and  the  wall  had  been  built  a  little  higher 
there,  he  being  the  tallest  of  the  three.  But  when  they  got  out,  Maxi- 
milian said  to  Miramon,  "You  shall  have  the  post  of  honor,  general; 
you  shall  stand  at  the  centre  and  I  at  your  left."  And  half  playfully, 
half  lovingly,  he  placed  Miramon  in  the  middle. 

The  officer  in  command  of  the  firing  party  interposed  and  said, 
"It  cannot  be  so,  sehor." 

"  Surely  so  trifling  a  request  as  this  need  not  be  refused,"  Maximi- 
lian said,  gently. 

One  of  the  Mexican  generals,  sitting  on  his  horse  a  few  paces 
away,  moved  his  hand  in  token  of  assent,  and  it  was  so  arranged. 

When  they  had  taken  their  places,  Maximilian  made  a  few  quiet, 
unaffected  remarks.  It  was  the  lot  of  men  of  his  station  in  life,  he 
said,  to  either  live  for  the  good  of  the  people  or  be  martyrs;  that  he 
had  wished  well  to  Mexico,  and  that  he  earnestly  hoped  that  his  blood 
would  be  the  last  blood  shed  in  civil  dissensions. 

A  few  doubloons  still  remained  in  his  purse.  He  handed  it  to  the 
officers,  and  asked  them  to  distribute  them  to  the  soldiers  of  the  firing 


[8o 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE    TROPICS. 


party  —  "  to  the  poor  fellows  who  have  this  last  disagreeable  duty  to 
perform  for  me." 

He  then  placed  a  handkerchief  over  his  beard  that  it  might  not  be 
burned  by  the  powder,  for  the  squad  had  been  ordered  to  stand  very 
close,  within  six  or  eight  feet.  This  was  his  last  act  before  receiving 
the  fatal  discharge.     All  three  met  their  fate  bravely  and  decently, 


DEATH    OF    MAXIMILIAN 


and  they  suffered  badly.     The  first  fire  was  not  fatal,  and  had  to  be 
repeated. 

The  adobe  wall  has  crumbled  awa)';  but  pits  for  three  black 
crosses  have  been  excavated  on  the  spot  where  they  stood.  Karzy 
and  Stein  brought  away  each  a  bit  of  stone  from  the  pits. 


CHAPTER  X. 


THE  OVERLAND  PARTY. THEIR  EXPERIENCE  WITH  THE  BRIGANDS. "  PEACE 

POLICY." 


I 


T  may  be  time  to  return  to  the  other  members  of  our  part)', 
who,  it  will  be  remembered,  left  Chihuahua  overland  for 
the  City  of  Mexico  at  the  time  of  our  trip  to  the  former 
city  in  the  previous  November.  They  proceeded  by  diligence 
to  Durango,  San  Luis  Potosi,  and  Aguas  Calientes,  the  pres- 
ent northern  terminus  of  the  southern  division  of  the  Central 
railroad. 

But  they  made  many  detours  to  various  towns  in  the  Cor- 
dilleras, on  either  side  of  the  main  route  southward.  Both 
Brett  and  Forney  were  much  interested  in  the  subject  of 
Mexican  mines.  AVash  and  Harold,  on  the  other  hand, 
found  greater  pleasure  in  looking  up  the  agricultural  products 
of  the  country. 

On  the  main  stage  route  from  Chihuahua  southward  they 
were  not  molested  bj-  brigands.  The  present  firm  government 
of  Mexico,  with  its  strong  corps  of  "  rurals,"  has  well-nigh  extermi- 
nated those  old-time  pests  of  the  traveller.  There  is  very  little 
danger  now  on  any  of  the  main  roads.  Upon  some  of  the  more 
remote  routes  a  "hold-up  "  is  occasionally  reported;  but  the  "rurals" 
are  quite  certain  to  ferret  out  the  robbers.  When  caught  the  bandits 
are  usually  executed  on  the  spot,  —  a  process  of  justice  which,  com- 
pared with  some  of  the  long-winded  and  uncertain  trials  of  highway- 
men in  our  own  West,  has  its  advantages. 

On  one  road  only  did  our  four  friends  have  any  trouble.     This  was 
in  the  sierras  between  Cumuripa  and  Oposura.     They  had  been   cau- 

181 


iS: 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE    TROPICS. 


tioned  in  advance  at  the  hotel  in  the  former  place;  and,  as  they  were 
to  return  by  the  same  route,  they  left  all  their  valuables  and  took  no 
money  with  them,  save  barely  enough  to  defray 
expenses.  Brett  had  eleven  little  American  gold 
dollars.     These   he   put  in   the  lining  of  his  boot. 

Harold    put   a   five- 
dollar  piece  upon   a 
corn  on  his  great  toe, 
and  did  it  up  with  a 
bit    of    cotton     rag. 
Forney,    not    to    be 
beaten,   put    a   five- 
dollar    piece    up    in 
his  left  arm-pit  with 
a    piece     of    court- 
pi  a  s  t  e  r     over    it. 
Wash  did   not    believe   they  would    be    mo- 
lested, and  carried  his  money  in   his  pocket, 
as  usual. 

They  were  the  only  passengers  in  the  dili- 
gence, with  the  exception  of  a  }-oung  Mexican 
officer  named  Rivera,  who  spoke  some  Eng- 
lish, and  whom  they  found  a  very  intelligent 
and  pleasant  fellow-traveller. 
According  to  custom,  the  diligence  left  Cumuripa  at  nine  in  the 
evening.  Naturally,  as  the)'  rode  out  of  town,  the  conversation  turned 
on  the  chance  of  a  "  hold-up  "  on  the  road.  The  young  Mexican, 
Captain  Rivera,  was  inclined  to  treat  the  matter  very  coolly;  and  in 
case  they  were  attacked  he  advised  us  not  to  run  the  risk  of  resisting, 
but  let  the  brigands  take  what  they  liked.  Some  of  the  party  were 
sure  to  get  killed  if  they  tried  to  beat  them  oft",  he  said.  For  the  brig- 
ands were  generally  a  party  of  twelve  or  fifteen,  and  before  stopping 


INDIAN    HUT. 


o 

< 
H 
0 
«! 

m 

H 

< 

X 

u 

K 
D 

a 
u 


"excuse  me,  gentlemen: 


185 


the  diligence  they  were  all  stationed,  and  stood  read}*  to  shoot  at  a 
signal  from  their  leader,  who  commonly  came  forward  alone. 

His  views  so  far  wrought  on  three  of  our  friends  that  the)-  took  the 
cartridges  from  their  revolvers,  and  decided  to  adopt  a  peace  policy. 
Forney,  on  the  other  hand,  declared  that  he  would  fill  the  first  brig- 
and who  showed  his  head  "  with  more  holes  than  a  pepper-box,"  and 
placed  his  pistol,  a  large  Colt's  six-shooter,  convenient  for  carrying 
out  his  threat,  in  his  outside  coat-pocket. 

They  journeyed  on.  There  was  a  bright  moon,  but  it  was  a  tire- 
some and  rather  dusty  ride,  amidst  scenery  characteristic  of  the  Mexi- 
can Cordilleras;  rust-brown  hills,  covered  with  prickly-pear  cactuses, 
eight  and  ten  feet  high,  a  few  straggling  mesquite  thickets,  and  at 
intervals  a  scanty  creek  with  a  fringe  ot  green  souse  brush.  Near  the 
creeks  were  commonly  a  few  Indian  huts;  otherwise  the  country  was 
an  uninhabited  desert. 

The  dews  and  the  chill  at  length  drove  all  five  of  our  travellers 
inside  the  coach,  and  as  the  night  drew  on  the)*  all  fell  asleep. 

From  I  know  not  what  dreams  of  silver-mining  the}*  were  at 
length  suddenly  roused  by  a  shout  of  "'  Alto!  "  followed  by  an  abrupt 
pulling  up  of  the  diligence,  —  so  abrupt,  in  tact,  that  they  were  all 
pitched  out  of  their  seats,  and  left  clawing  about  among  the  straps  and 
supports.  And  before  they  could  half  regain  their  seats  or  take  in  the 
situation,  a  horseman,  whose  silver-bangled  legs  shone  in  the  raoon- 
,  light,  pulled  open  the  door  of  the  stage,  and  in  accents  which  admitted 
of  no  delay,  but  withal  very  politely,  requested  them  to  get  out. 

^Dispense  me,  senors"  (Excuse  me,  gentlemen),  "  but  you  will 
be  so  good  as  to  descend." 

Good  as  his  word,  Forney  made  a  grab  for  his  pistol-,  but,  strange 
to  say,  could  not  find  it.  First  in  one  pocket,  then  in  the  other,  he 
dived  his  hand.  It  was  gone.  Fortunately  the  darkness  inside  the  dili- 
gence prevented  the  caballero  at  the  door  from  perceiving  his 
motions,  else  very  likely  worse  would  have  resulted. 


r86  THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE    TROPICS. 

The  Mexican  officer  at  once  got  out.  Wash,  Brett,  Harold,  and, 
finally,  Forney  followed  him,  and  all  stood  in  a  row  in  the  road. 

In  the  semi-darkness  they  saw  eight  or  ten  horsemen  sitting  in  the 
shadow  of  some  tamarind  trees.  Four  heavily-sombreroed  fellows  in 
jackets,  with  guns,  stood  on  either  side  of  them.  Two  others  came 
forward.  ".57/  dinero  y  reloj,  seizor"  (Your  money  and  watch,  sir), 
the  leader  of  the  gang  said  to  each  in  turn. 

K  IVo  tengo  mitcho"  replied  Captain  Rivera,  laughing.  "  Tres pesos 
(three  dollars)  no  mas.     No  tengo  mi  reloj  este  tiemfio." 

Wash  handed  over  his  pocketbook,  which,  however,  contained 
but  eighteen  dollars. 

Brett  alone  had  taken  a  watch,  —  a  cheap  "Waltham."     This  he 
gave  up. 

But  the  net  result  was  so  unsatisfactory  to  the  brigand  leader  that 
he  ordered  his  two  aids  to  search  the  part}'.  This  they  did  pretty 
thoroughly,  and  also  searched  the  diligence,  but  found  nothing  of  the 
concealed  gold.  The  pistols  they  did  not  seem  to  care  for,  or  else 
were  too  considerate  to  take. 

In  no  very  good  humor  the  robber  captain  bade  them  resume  their 
places  in  the  stage;  yet  he  did  not  fail  to  give  them  "Buenos  noc/ies"" 
and  "Adios"'''  at  parting. 

Once  inside  the  diligence,  and  on  their  way  again  — and  by  this 
time  fully  waked  up  —  our  friends  were  much  inclined  to  laugh  over 
the  adventure;  though  Forney  wondered  greatly  what  could  have 
become  of  his  revolver.  A  diligent  search  on  the  floor  of  the  coach 
was  made.     But  the  weapon  appeared  to  have  "  dropped  out." 

They  had  proceeded  no  more  than  three  legieas,  however,  when  the 
diligence  was. again  halted,  and  they  found  themselves  in  the  clutches 
of  another  band. 

It  appears  that  two  parties  of  the  robbers  had  planned  to  rob  the 
stage  that  night,  —  rival  bands,  it  seemed. 

A  second    time    our   friends    alighted    to    be    searched.     Captain 


INTERESTING   ENCOUNTER. 


187 


Rivera  remarked  jocosely  to  the  leader  that  he  was  behindhand, — 
that  some  of  his  fellows  had  already  plucked  the  stage.  This  bit  of 
information  seemed  to  fill  the  second  party  with  rage  and  despite. 
They  cursed  and  swore  roundly.  For  a  few  moments  our  friends 
were  in  jeopardy,  fearing  that  they  would  be  murdered  on  the  spot. 
But  a  few  words  of  judicious  banter  from  the  young  Mexican  officer 
served  to  mollify  them  somewhat. 

One    o\    the    gang    approached    Wash,  and    said,    "  Una    sehora 


YOUNG    OCELOTS. 

quiere  su  -pannelo,  senor"  (A  lady  would  like  your  handkerchief), 
pointing  to  a  striped  silken  one  which  our  comrade  had  tied  about  his 
neck. 

Wash  at  once  presented  it  to  him. 

Another  said  to  Brett,  "A  mi  me  gustan  sus  zapaterso,  senar" 
(Your  shoes  please  me). 

It  was  not  safe  to  act  reluctant,  and  our  friend  saw  his  eleven  gold 
dollars  go  alongf  with  the  shoes. 


1 88  THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE    TROPICS. 

After  this  manner  our  four  fellow-countrymen  were  speedily 
reduced  to  shirt,  pantaloons,  and  stockings.  Nor  did  the  Mexican 
officer  fare  any  better  at  their  hands. 

The  driver  of  the  diligence  took  no  part  in  the  business,  either  for 
or  against  the  brigands.  Very  likely  he  may  have  been  acting  in  col- 
lusion with  them. 

The  night  had  been  a  chilly  one  at  best,  and  now  our  travellers 
had  to  snuggle  close  to  one  another  to  keep  warm. 

They  arrived  at  Oposura  in  a  rather  forlorn  condition,  so  far  as 
appearance  went. 

As  they  were  getting  down  at  the  hotel,  Capitan  Rivera  quietly 
drew  forth  Forney's  revolver  from  under  his  seat,  and  presented  it  to 
him  with  man)'  apologies,  and  sincerely  begged  his  pardon  for  what 
seemed  a  trick. 

"  I  saw,  senor,"  said  he,  "that  you  were  in  earnest  about  shooting. 
But  it  would  have  been  a  great  mistake,  and  it  might  have  s;ot  us  all 
killed.  I  am  going  to  turn  out  the  'rurals,'  and  instead  of  those  ras- 
cally brigands  shooting  us,  I  hope  to  have  the  great  pleasure  of  hav- 
ing them  all  shot  by  to-morrow  evening." 

Such  are  some  of  the  phases  of  life  in  a  back-country  State  of 
Mexico. 


CHAPTER    XI. 

BRETT  AND  FORNEY  GO  IN  QUEST  OF  COAL  MINES,  AND  HAVE    A    SINGULAR    ADVEN- 
TURE WITH  A   MEXICAN  COUNTRY  GENTLEMAN. 


IS&u^ 


MAN  who  can  discover  a  coal  mine 
in  Mexico  will  assuredly  make  a 
fortune,  the  size  of  which  will  be 
limited  only  by  the  size  and  quality 
of  the  mine. 

More  than  anything  else  Mex- 
ico needs  coal.  There  are  silver 
mines  enough,  and,  judging  from 
present  appearances,  there  will 
soon  be  railways  enough.  But 
both  silver  mines  and  railroads  need  coal, —  need  it  imperatively;  and 
thus  far  no  one  has  discovered  coal  in  quantities  or  of  quality  worth 
digging.  The  railways  are  now  burning  the  wood  of  the  mesquite 
scrub,  or  pine  brought  from  the  higher  slopes  of  the  Cordilleras  — 
stripping  the  country  of  what  scanty  forests  still  remain  on  its  arid 
and  sunburnt  surfaces.  It  seems  a  pity !  Mexico  suffers  from 
lack  of  forests  and  the  moisture  which  they  draw  and  retain.  The 
entire  plateau  is  parched  by  drouth.  In  the  time  of  the  Aztec  empire, 
three  hundred  and  seventy  years  ago,  the  country  was  clad  with  grand 
old  woods,  even  to  the  mountain-tops.  Irrigation  was  not  then 
needed;  now  nothing  can  be  raised  without  it.  The  reason  of  this 
change  is  that  the  Spanish  conquerors  ignorantly  felled  and  burned 
off  the  forests,  that  their  "New  Spain"  might  resemble  Old  Spain, 
it  is  said. 

189 


190 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE    TROPICS. 


Geologists  and  mineralogists  do  not  speak  encouragingly  of  the 
prospects  of  finding  coal  measures  in  Mexico.  But  these  gentlemen 
have  made  so  many  mistakes  in  their  estimates  of  the  mineral  wealth 

of  various 
countries  that 
no  one  need 
feel  certain 
that  Mexico 
may  not  have 
an  ample  coal 
supply  safely 
packed  away 
beneath  the 
strata  of  some  or  all  of  her  States. 

Two  acquaintances  of  the  writer  — 
•amateur  geologists  and  mining  engi- 
neers —  have   of  late    been    peering 
about    certain  portions  of  the  great 
plateau  in  the  hope  of  finding  in- 
dications    of     the     much-needed 
''black  diamonds"  of  industry; 
and  on  one  of  their  prospecting 
I  trips  in  the  State  of  Durango, 
they    had    an  experience    which 

Wf    ^•itfB^ff'-:-- ■'■  --%  %-■     *u?     throws   a    peculiar    light  on  the 

~  ~^c:  sag-  v  ° 

character  of  some  of  our  "  neigh- 
bors "  in  the  sister  republic  to  south- 
ward. 

At  a  place  up  among  the  mountains,  on  what  from  all  appearances 
seemed  to  be  nobody's  land,  so  craggy  and  well-nigh  inaccessible 
was  the  locality,  they  discovered,  not  coal,  but  a  very  promising 
fissure  vein    of  silver   ore,  which   they   determined    to   r~  locate,"  or 


*%m 


THE  HERD  OF  MOUNTAIN-SHEEP. 


MINING.  Igl 


"denounce,"  as  the  phrase  is  in  Mexico,  under  the  very  liberal  min- 
ing law  of  the  country.  A  mining  claim  may  be  made,  regardless 
of  any  prior  ownership  of  the  land  by  any  one;  and  by  the  payment 
of  a  very  small  annual  fee  it  remains  the  property  of  the  discoverer. 


SILVER   MINE. 


For  stakes  to  indicate  the  bearings  and  for  fuel  for  their  camp-fire 
that  afternoon,  they  had  the  two  Mexican  boys  who  carried  their  lug- 
gage, etc.,  fell  two  small  ash  trees,  which  stood  in  the  ravine  below 
their  "lead."     These  were  crooked,  gnarled  little  sapplings,  not  more 


I92  THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN   THE    TROPICS. 

than  four  or  five  inches  in  diameter,  of  no  value;  there  were  a  score 
others  just  like  them  along  the  ravine  where  they  made  their  camp  for 
the  night. 

Just  at  sunset  an  Indian  laborer  passed  down  the  ravine  carrying  a 
large  jarra  of  zasamoras  (blackberries)  on  his  head.  Mr.  Forney, 
one  of  the  two  Americans,  spoke  to  him,  and  asked  him  to  sell  some 
of  the  zasamoras.  The  man  stood  at  a  distance,  and  would  not  reply 
or  come  to  their  fire:  after  observing:  them  for  some  moments  he  went 
on.  His  manner  gave  them  some  uneasiness,  and  one  or  the  other  of 
them  kept  awake  to  watch  lest  the  fellow  might  return  after  dark 
with  a  party  to  rcb  them.  The  night  passed  without  incident,  how- 
ever; but  as  they  were  taking  coffee  next  morning  they  saw  a  large 
party  coming  up  the  ravine,  picking  their  way,  on  horseback.  It  was 
headed  by  a  well-mounted  Mexican  in  short  black  jacket,  silver- 
trimmed  pantaloons,  and  a  richly-ornamented  sombrero.  Behind  him 
came  ten  or  twelve  cotton-clad  peons  (Indian  laborers),  all  armed 
with  carbines  and  pistols  or  knives. 

"  Well,  well,"  exclaimed  Forney,  "  here  comes  a  whole  Mexican 
army.     We  are  taken,  I  guess." 

Mr.  Brett,  the  other  American,  stepped  forward  to  meet  them,  and 
said  in  Spanish:   "  Buenos  dios,  sehorf  "     (What  can  we  do  for  you?) 

Instead  of  returning  the  salutation,  as  most  Mexicans  will  very 
politely,  whatever  their  errand,  the  man  pointed  angrily  to  the  stumps 
and  brush  of  the  two  ashes,  and  began  a  long,  loud  tirade  which  the 
peons  chorused  with  confirmatory  grunts.  Our  two  countrymen 
knew  enough  Spanish  to  understand  some  portion  of  what  the  Mexi- 
can was  saying;  and  they  readily  recognized  the  words  arboles  (trees), 
corta  (cut),  and  danos   (damages). 

It  was  plain  that  their  handsomely  gotten  up  and  early  visitant  felt 
aggrieved,  and  was  demanding  damages  for  the  two  little  ash  trees. 
The  two  Americans  could  hardly  keep  from  laughing.  Such  a  cav- 
alcade and  such  a  fuss  about  so  trifling  a  thing!  They  were  willing 
enough  to  pay  for  the  wood. 


PROSPECTING. 


1 93 


"  Esta  bien"  said  Brett,  with  difficulty  retaining  a  grave  face  (All 
right).  K£htanto?"   (How  much?) 

But  their  faces  lengthened  without  effort  when  they  heard  the  man's 


PROSPECTING. 

demand.  To  their  amazement  he 
exclaimed,  pompously,  "  Dps  cien- 
tos pesos  I '"  (two  hundred  dollars). 

They  could  not  believe  it. 
<?  listed  quiere  doz  pesos?"'  said 
Forney  (you  want  two  dollars). 

"  No    Senores,   yo    quiero     dos 
cientos  pesos,  y  dos  cientos  pesos 
yo  tomari!"  cried  the  Mexican,  most  emphaticaiiy;  and  at  the  same 
time  he  made  a  sign  to  his  peons,  who  closed  round  the  two  Ameri- 
cans, carbine  in  hand. 


jg^  THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE    TROPICS. 

Our  two  friends  hardly  knew  what  turn  to  give  the  affair.  The 
demand  was  outrageous.  They  had  hardly  that  amount  of  money  by 
them.  To  resist  by  force  of  arms  in  that  remote  spot  was  out  of  the 
question.  Not  a  little  disturbed,  the}'  attempted  to  remonstrate  with 
the  fellow;  but  their  indignant  objections  were  met  by  a  general 
cocking  of  guns  on  the  part  of  the  peons,  who  evidently  waited  but  a 
word  from  their  padrone  to  shoct. 

" J^ueiren  a  pagar  me?  "  (Will  you  pay  me?)  was  the  peremp- 
tory question  of  their  captor. 

"2Vo  podemos"  (We  cannot),  Brett  replied. 

c  Venido  conmigo"  (Come  along  with  me,  then),  was  the  next 
equally  peremptory  requisition.  As  the  only  alternative  was  to  fight, — 
ten  to  one,  —  our  two  friends  made  a  virtue  of  necessity,  and  went 
along  as  bidden. 

They  proceeded  three  miles  or  more  and  came  out  to  a  rancho  upon 
a  haciendo  of  which  their  captor  was  apparently  the  proprietor.  The 
buildings  were  surrounded  by  a  high  Avail  or  corral  of  adobes.  When 
they  had  entered  within  the  enclosure,  the  Mexican  repeated  his 
demand  for  two  hundred  dollars.  They  told  him  that  the}"  could  not 
pay  it. 

K Bueno"  was  the  dogged  response.  ''You  will  stay  with  me  till 
you  do."  Whereupon  he  ordered  them  into  one  of  the  low  stone 
buildings  with  barred  windows. 

The  idea  of  being  shut  up  as  prisoners  in  such  a  hole  was  so 
repugnant  to  both  that  they  demurred  going,  and,  consulting  together, 
determined  to  pay  the  two  hundred  dollars,  and  trust  to  fortune  to 
get  out  of  the  country. 

They  accordingly  handed  over  the  money,  though  they  had  barely 
eight  dollars  left,  and  were  allowed  to  depart  without  further  pluck- 
ing. Successful  extortion,  indeed,  put  the  Mexican  in  so  good  a 
humor  that  after  the  customary  formula  of  Spanish  politeness,  he 
asked  them  to  come  again  to  visit  him,  saying  that  his  house  and  all 


iv 


r 


S  ,  11  i 


pi 

/  /   £•-•■  || 


o 
u 


;'"  1;';«  '- 


'   \J 


COSTLY  STAKES.  lgy 

there  was  in  it -was  theirs.  On  their  part,  they  would  not  allow  him 
the  satisfaction  of  observing  their  chagrin,  and  very  carelessly  and 
good-humoredly  bade  him  good-day  and  actios. 

They  went  back  to  their  camp  and  looked  at  their  two-hundred- 
dollar  stakes  —  as  philosophically  as  they  could.  But  look  at  it  as 
they  would,  they  were  badly  off,  —  in  the  midst  of  a  foreign  country 
with  no  money,  or  only  eight  dollars,  and  two  hired  Indians  on  their 
hands,  to  whom  they  already  owed  twenty  dollars.  Under  such  cir- 
cumstances the  reader  will,  perhaps,  excuse  Mr.  Brett  for  summing  up 
their  financial  condition  in  the  one  characteristically  Western  term  — 
"busted;"  to  which  Forney  responded,  "  Busted  clean  open!" 

"  What  do  you  say?  "  Brett  questioned.     "  What's  to  be  done?  " 

"  Can't  you  ask  me  an  easier  one?  "  said  Forney.  "  But  I  say,"  he 
exclaimed,  "  it 's  too  bad  to  let  that  blessed  Mexican  get  away  with 
all  that  money." 

"True,"  said  Brett.     "But  how  can  we  work  him?" 

"  Can't  say,"  replied  Forney.  "  But  let's  go  back  to  his  place  by- 
and-by  and  tell  him  we  want  some  dinner.  He  invited  us,  you 
know,  and  he  cannot  well  refuse  us  now  that  he  has  got  all  our 
money.  We  will  eat  with  him,  talk  to  him,  and  draw  him  out  one 
way  and  another.     We  may  catch  some  hold  on  him." 

Accordingly,  towards  evening,  they  "went  back  to  the  rancho,  with 
their  two  peons,  and  as  politely  and  nonchalantly  as  possible  asked 
the  proprietor  for  something  to  eat.  He  seemed  a  little  surprised,  but 
welcomed  them  with  grave  courtes}-,  and  at  once  asked  them  to  dine 
with  him. 

At  dinner  our  two  comrades  tried  him  on  various  subjects.  First, 
they  told  him  of  the  mine  they  had  discovered  on  his  estate,  and  tried 
to  get  him  in  as  a  partner  to  work  it  with  them.  Then  they  offered 
him  a  contract,  which  they  had  the  refusal  of  for  ties  for  the  proposed 
new  line  of  railroad  through  the  State,  and  many  other  schemes. 

But  their  host  only  shrugged  his  shoulders,  in  the  peculiar  style  of 


i98 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE    TROPICS. 


these  people:   "no  quiero"  he  did  not  care  for  anything  of  the  sort; 

he  had  produced  a  pack  of  cards,  and  the  peons  brought  in  a  roulette- 
stand  and  another 
game  of  bolas,  or 
balls  for  guessing 
and  betting.  They 
saw  that  the  only 
thing  likely  to  inter- 
est him  was  some 
gambling  operation. 
Our  two  friends 
were  not  young  men 
of  that  stamp.  They 
declined  to  play  at 
three-card  monte,  or 
roulette,  and  were 
cold  on  the  subject 
of  betting  with  the 
bolas.  They  found, 
however,  that  noth- 
ing else  would  in- 
terest him,  and  that, 
cold  on  everything 
else,  he  was  crazy 
on  the  subject  of 
gambling,  like  manj? 
others  of  his  nation. 
Finally  they  were 
led  into  several  pe- 
culiar wagers  with 
him,  in  which  Yan- 
kee shrewdness  was 
curiously     matched 


GOOD  GUESSING.  Xqq 

against  Mexican  tricks.  It  may  be  a  fact  not  known  to  all  readers 
that  every  Mexican  is  named  from  the  saint  in  the  Catholic  calen- 
dar whose  day  chances  to  be  his  birthday.  For  example,  if  a  boy  is 
born  on  the  17th  of  January,  he  is  named  Antonio,  that  being  the 
day  of  the  saint  of  that  name.  So  that  if  you  hear  a  Mexican  lad 
addressed  as  Antonio  you  may  know  at  once  that  his  birthday  is  the 
17th  of  Januar}-,  and  so  with  all. 

Brett  had  learned  this  usage  since  coming  to  Mexico,  incidentally ; 
but  Forney  knew  nothing  of  it. 

As  they  talked,  the  Mexican  asked  them  their  names,  and  they 
showed  him  their  sirnames  in  their  passports — merely  pointing  them 
out  to  him,  but  not  allowing  him  to  see  anything  else.  He  then 
asked  whether  their  ages  and  the  dates  of  their  births  were  set  down 
in  their  passports. 

They  told  him  they  were.  He  then  turned  to  Forney  and  said,  — 
w  I  bet  you  dollar  to  dollar  {^aposto  -peso  a  peso)  that  I  can  guess  your 
birthday. 

It  came  out  afterwards  through  the  peons  that,  in  their  flurry  pay- 
ing the  two  hundred  dollars,  they  had  unwittingly  dropped  an  old 
envelope  with  Forney's  name,  Gerald  S.,  on  it.  The  Mexican  had 
picked  it  up,  and  thinking  that  christening  usage  was  the  same  in  the 
'United  States  as  in  Mexico,  and  being  a  sharp  rascal,  he  laid  his  wager 
on  that. 

Forney  was  staggered;  he  was  sure  the  Mexican  had  not  seen  the 
date  in  the  passports.  But  Brett  guessed  the  game,  and  saw  the  mis- 
take the  fellow  had  fallen  into.  He  nodded  to  Forney  to  take  it  up. 
Accordingly  Forney  said  "  cincuenta  pesos"  unhesitatingly,  and  not 
having  the  money  he  took  off  his  watch  and  laid  it  on  the  table.  The 
Mexican  glanced  at  the  watch,  and  opening  a  drawer,  put  out  fifty 
dollars  beside  the  watch,  in  silver. 

"  Bueno"  said  he.     "You  were  born  on  the   30th  of  September." 

Without  a  word  Forney  opened  his  passport,  and  showed  the  actual 
date,  — July  13. 


200  THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE    TROPICS. 

The  Mexican  looked  astonished,  but  seeing  that  he  had  lost  indis- 
putably, he  shoved  the  silver  across  very  courteously.  Being 
an  acute  fellow,  too,  he  at  once  jumped  at  two  conclusions,  that 
custom  was  not  the  same  in  the  United  States,  and  that  these  two 
Americans  probably  did  not  know  the  Mexican  usage.  But  to  be 
sure  he  presently  asked  innocently  enough,  "  Conoce  mi  nombre?" 

"No,"  said  Forney,  which  was  quite  true;  and  he  gave  no  indica- 
tion of  understanding  the  drift  of  the  question.  But  Brett  had  heard 
one  of  the  women  in  the  rancho  address  the  Mexican  as  Benito  when 
they  were  at  the  place  in  the  morning.  Again  he  divined  the  game; 
and  by  a  quick  effort  of  memory  he  placed  the  day  from  connecting 
it  with  the  birthday  of  Juarez,  the  Mexican  statesman.  But  Forney 
remained  quite  in  the  dark. 

Perceiving  Forney's  unmistakably  blank  and  innocent  face  the 
Mexican  said,  "  I  lost.  Bueno.  But  I  bet  you  four  to  one  {cuartro 
a  uno)  you  cannot  guess  my  birthday." 

Again  Brett  gave  the  nod,  and  Forney,  after  a  moment  of  discreet 
doubt  said:  — 

"  Hec/io"  (Done),  and  put  down  the  fifty  dollars  which  he  had  just 
won. 

v Bueno  I  "  exclaimed  their  host,  who  was  beginning  to  get  excited. 
Not  having  two  hundred  in  the  table  drawer,  he  went  to  a  chest  at 
the  other  side  of  the  room  for  the  balance.  Meantime  Brett  scribbled 
a  date  on  the  table  under  his  hand  with  his  pencil,  on  which  Forney's 
eye  presumably  fell;  for  as  soon  as  the  cash  was  piled,  he  said 
quietly,  "  Viente  y  uno  de  Marzo"  (March   21). 

The  Mexican  jumped  from  his  chair,  and  made  a  half  movement  to 
seize  the  silver.  "No,  no!"  he  shouted.  But  several  of  the  peons 
standing  around,  all  vastly  interested  in  the  play,  had  unwittingly  cried 
out,  "  Bueno!  Si!  Si!"  Seeing  it  was  useless  to  deny  it,  the  baffled 
gamester  sat  down.     "Dispense  me!"  he  said.     "  listed  tiene  razon" 

Forney   lost  no   time   in   pocketing  the   cash,  and   they  soon  took 


IN  HASTE.  20 1 

leave  —  not  just  liking  the  uneasy  manner  in  which  the  eye  of  their 
host  burned  and  roved  about.  By  this  time  it  was  late  in  the  even- 
ing. 

"Old  fellow,  this  is  the  worst  job  I  ever  helped  put  up,"  exclaimed 
Brett  as  soon  as  they  were  outside  in  the  dark.  "  But  I  declare  he 
drove  us  to  it.  Now  let 's  get  out  of  here  before  we  get  our  throats 
cut." 

Instead  of  going  back  to  camp,  they  made  a  rapid  trip  to  the  vil- 
lage of  Zurnal  that  night,  travelling  eighteen  or  twenty  miles  in  about 
seven  hours.  And  thus  far  they  have  not  thought  it  best  to  go  back 
to  "  denounce  "  their  mine. 


CHAPTER    XII. 


SANTA    SEMANA. STUDYING     SPANISH. "BOILED     BONES." AT    EL    PASEO    DE 

FLORES. A    WEEK    OF    FIESTAS. THE     "  JUDASES  "    AND    THE    "DRY    BONES 

RATTLING."  GRAND  EXPLOSION  OF  JUDASES.  CORRIDA  DE  TOROS. A  SUN- 
DAY   BULL-FIGHT.  —  NO  END  OF    A  NOISE  !  MOSES  GETS  EXCITED.  "  BULLY 

FOR  THE  WHITE-FACED  BULL  !  " 


ANTA  SEMANA,  or  Holy  Week,  in 
Mexico  will  afford  a  novel  experience 
to  most  young  people  from  the  United 
States  who  visit  Mexico  during  the  few 
years  following  the  opening  of  the  new 
railways.  It  is  the  gayest,  the  most 
show}',  and  by  all  odds  the  most  spirited 
■  season  of  the  whole  year,  carni- 
val not  excepted.  Crowds  of  the  In- 
dian people  from  the  surrounding 
country  flock  into  the  city;  it  is  the  time  of  floral 
decorations,  booths,  traffic,  and  pulque-drinking. 
Now,  too,  the  Mexican  ladies  come  forth  in  their 
new  dresses  for  the  year  —  dresses  as  rich,  and  even 
more  positive  in  color  than  those  put  on  by  their 
fashionable  sisters  in  New  York  or  Paris;  and  altogether  one  may 
gain  a  better  idea  of  Mexico  and  Mexicans  on  this  than  any  other 
occasion. 

202 


SANTA    SEMANA. 


20: 


On  the  13th  of  March  our  party  (reinforced  by  the  four  young 
gentlemen  who  had  come  overland  from  El  Paso  and  Chihuahua) 
returned  to  the  capital  from  our  trip  to  Lagos,  Queretaro,  and  Guada- 
lajara, and  established  ourselves  for  the  time  at  our  rooms  on  the 
Alameda,  settled  down  to  see  the  sights,  and  study  Spanish. 

In  this  latter  pursuit,  however,  several  of  us,  particularly  Moses, 
are  having  not  a  little  difficulty.     That  long  list  of  irregular  Spanish 

verbs  is  a  true  linguistic 
"  staggerer."  Moses,  too, 
who  is  a  very  literal  fel- 
low, finds  himself  much 
confounded  by  words  of 
familiar  sounds  which  have 
unfamdiar  meanings. 

"Well,  this  is  a  queer 
country!  "  he  exclaimed  a 
few  mornings  ago.  "  Here 
they  call  corn  mice 
(maiz),  and  call  a  loaf 
of  bread  a  pan;  a  trunk 
they  call  a  bowl,  and  a 
jug  a  harroiv  (jarra) ,  and 
country  is  pies.  Why, 
by  the  time  a  fellow  had 
learned  two  or  three  such 
languages  he  would  never 
be  sure  what  he  was  talk- 
ing about." 

But  Karzy  had  the  "  worst  thing  "  a  few  days  since,  at  the  restau- 
rant where  we  take  our  meals.  He  got  the  words  huevos  which 
means  eggs,  and  huesos,  which  means  bones,  mixed  in  his  mind. 
When  the  Mexican  waiter  came  to  take  his  order,  he  said,  "  Quiero 


STREET    SCENE    IN    MEXICO. 


204 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE    TROPICS. 


huesos  pasados  en  agua  caliente,  cinco  minutos 7"  (Boiled  bones,  five 
minutes.) 

"J^ue?"  questioned  the  waiter,  deprecatorily. 

"  Huesos,  cinco  minutos?  "  repeated  Karzy,  peremptorily.  "  Ven, 
ven,  pronto!"  (Come,  be  quick!)  (At  this  juncture  Stein  trod  on 
Moses'  toe  under  the  table  and  sent  an  obscure  wink  round,  whereat 
all  the  others  perused  the  bill  of  fare  with  grave  attention.) 

The  waiter  started  off  hesitatingly,  went  a  few  steps,  then  turned 
as  if  to  come  back  for  further  conversation,  but  seeing  a  look  of  wrath 
mounting  in  Karzy's  face,  he  thought  better  of  it,  and  marched  off 
determinedly  toward  the  kitchen. 

Meantime  the  rest  of  us  gave  our  orders,  and  waited  for  the  result. 

Karzy  had  to  wait  some  time.  At  length  in  marched  the  waiter, 
bringing  a  large  platter  of  beef  bones,  —  two  thigh-bones  sawn  in 
two  and  cracked!  This  appetizing  dish  he  set  down  steaming  hot 
before  our  junior  comrade,  whose  face  would  at  once  have  furnished 
a  good  study  for  Nast.  Surprise  and  indignation  are  no  words  for  it. 
He  jumped  up  and  glared  at  the  "waiter,  who  stepped  back  a  little,  but 
said  stoutly,  "  Huesos,  senorP  A  snort  from  Moses  drew  Karzy's 
attention  to  us.  Then  a  sickly  smile  broke  out  on  his  face;  he  shook 
his  head,  took  his  new  sombrero  and  left  without  a  word. 

The  waiter  collected  dos  reales  (twenty-five  cents)  of  us  for 
the  bones.    , 

We  saw  no  more  of  Karzy  till  afternoon. 

The  old  church  of  San  Agostin,  a  very  large  one,  has  been  hand- 
somely remodeled  in  stone  to  contain  the  Biblioteca  Nacional  — 
(National  Public  Library).  There  are  a  few  English  works,  and  an 
immense  number  of  Spanish  books  and  manuscripts.  We  asked  the 
attendant  who  showed  us  through  it  how  many  volumes  they  had,  and 
he  put  down  on  a  slip  of  paper  the  figures  one  hundred  and  twenty 
millions!  We  presumed  that  he  had  added  the  last  three  ciphers  by 
mistake,    but  did  not  quite    like    to    question    his  arithmetic.      This 


STUD  YING  SPA  NISH. 


205 


biblioteca  really  looks  to    be   larger  than    any   public    or    university 

library  in  the  United  States. 

Any  person  can  consult  the 

books  in  the  reading-room; 

but  as  yet   books    are  not 

allowed  to  be  taken  away 

on  the  card  system. 

There  is  another  public 
library,  called  the  Cinco 
de  Mayo,  less  extensive; 
and  three  or  four  others 
connected  with  the  Na- 
tional Schools  of  Medicine, 
Law,  and  Technology. 
The  city  does  not  lack  for 
books,  but  rather  for  peo- 
ple who  read;  and  this  is 
a  lack  which  cannot  be 
supplied  till  their  new  pub- 
lic school  system  has  had 
a  quarter  of  a  century  to 
make  the  children  into 
readers.  An  admirable 
new  public  school  system 
has  been  organized  within 
the  last  few  years;  but  its 
founders  will  need  to  have 
patience  to  see  it  make  its 
way  slowly  amidst  the  ig- 
norance and  idle  supersti- 
tions in  which  the  Catho-  A  NATIVE  LADY- 
lie  church  is  more   than   content  to   have  the   people   remain.     The 


206 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE    TROPICS. 


gigantic  influence  of  the  church  over  the  people  is  now,  more  than 
an)'  other  cause,  what  holds  Mexico  at  a  standstill.  As  yet  it  is  only 
a  little  shaken;  but  to  that  little  is  due  everything  which  has  been 
effected  in  the  way  of  national  progress.  We  do  not  say  this  in  the 
spirit  of  scientific  radicalism,  but  merely  record  it  as  an  easily  appar- 
ent fact  to  the  eye  of  any  intelligent  observer. 

But  Santa  Semanal  While  visiting  the  various  points  of  interest 
in  the  city,  its  suburbs,  and  the  outlying  towns  of  the 
magnificent  valley,  —  Chapultepec,  Tacubaya,  Atzcapot- 
zalco,  Guadaloupe,  Tezcuco,  —  we  have  been  enjoying  in 
due    course    the    successive  jlestas  and  "exercises"  of 

Holy  Week.  Not 
the  least  pleasurable 
of  these  was  the  Fi- 
esta de  las  Flores, 
or  Flower  Festival, 
of  the  previous  Fri- 
day (March  16),  at 
the  old  Paseo  along 
the  canal  at  Santa 
Anita.  On  this  day 
the  Indians  bring  in 
flowers  from  their 
chin  amp  as  and 
other  gardens,  to 
sell  and  to  decorate 
the  churches.  At 
an  early  hour  the  canal  for  half  a  league  was  well-nigh  impassable 
from  the  throng  of  their  canoes  and  barges.  And  flowers,  flowers, 
such  quantities  of  flowers,  —  queen-roses,  roses  of  Castile,  pinks,  sweet 
peas,  nasturtiums,  poppies,  crowns  and  mounds  of  poppies  of  most 
dazzling  hues,  pansies,  heliotrope,  and  all  the  thousand  geraniums,  — 


CANAL   OF    LA    VIGA,    CITY    OF    MEXICO. 


SANTA    S EM  ANA. 


207 


a  perfectly  bewildering  maze  of  color  and  perfume!  And  all  delight- 
fully cheap  in  price,  —  so  cheap  that  one  would  need  to  have  taken  a 
coach,  or  a  horse-car,  to  get  away  the   heaps    he  could    buy   for   a 


ers  and  flower  festivals.  They 
changed  in  taste;  and  it  is  along 
this  gentle,  kindly  people  may 
at  best  advantage.  We  went 
flower    festival    with    the    feel- 


^.^li®^»';- 


peso. 

The  historians  of  the  Conquest  speak  of  the  love  of  the  Indians, 
at  that  date,  for  flow- 
seem  not  to  have 
this  old  Paseo  that 
be  seen  and  studied 
home  from  this 
ing  that  never  in 
all  our  lives  had  we 
seen  and  smelled  so 
many  flowers. 

Monday  following 
(March  19)  was  San 
Jose's  day.  All  the  Mexicans  named 
Jose,  whose  birthday  was  the  nine- 
teenth, were  on  a.  fiesta  that  day;  and, 
judging  from  the  hilarious  crowd,  about 
half  the  population  must  be  Joses. 

As  the  week  advanced  the  interest 
in  the  fiestas  and  the  crowds  deepened 
and  thickened,  particularly  at  the  zo- 
calo  and  about  the  cathedral.  All  the 
events  of  Passion  Week,  the  arrest,  trial, 
and  resurrection  of  Christ,  are  at  this  time  simulated  in  the  church 
ceremonial.     The  services  were  continuous. 

On  Thursday  the  people  in  their  finest  clothing,  many  of  the  ladies 
superbly  attired,  were  constantly  going  on  foot  from  church  to  church. 

Friday  was  the  day  of  grief  and  solemn  mourning.  No  business, 
save  of  extreme  necessity,  was  done.  The  shops  were  closed;  the 
horses  and  mules  remained  in  their  stables. 


SCENE   DURING   SANTA   SEMANA. 


208 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE    TROPICS. 


Meantime  the  "dry  bones"  of  Scripture  were  rattling;  every  boy 
had  some  sort  of  cart  or  "jig,"  that  revolved  with  a  furiously  snap- 
ping spring.  There  was  a  racket  only  equalled  by  that  in  a  North 
American  town  on  a  Fourth  of  July  morning,  when  all  the  crackers 
and  guns   are  going  oft'.      In   the   Plaza  were   hundreds   of  venders, 

selling  "Judases"  and  "here- 
tics," many  of  them  life-size,  and 
of  all  degrees  of  hideousness,  to 
be  hung,  burned,  and  blown  to 
pieces  at  nine  o'clock  Saturday 
morning. 

And  when  Saturday  morning 
dawned,  and  nine  o'clock  struck, 
Fourth  of  July  was  nowhere! 
In  all  the  cross-streets  and  alleys 
thousands  of  Judases  and  here- 
tics, hung  on  ropes  and  wires, 
in  all  manner  of  excruciating 
attitudes,  and  charged  with  gun- 
p£  powder,  were  touched  off,  and 
the  city  was  soon  blue  'with 
smoke. 

At  ten  o'clock  Saturday  the 
bells,  all  the  thousands  of  church- 
bells,  which  for  two  days  had 
been  silent,  burst  forth  in  one 
tremendous,     triumphant      peal. 


SPANISH    BEGGAR   IN    MEXICO. 


The 


was    over, 


the 


grief  had  passed.  And  all  the  Judases  and  heretics  being  by  this 
time  disposed  of  in  a  satisfactory  manner,  the  multitude  went  for  their 
next  arch  enemy,  —  pulque. 

"Big  bull-fight  at  Toluca  to-morrow!"  exclaimed  Karzy,  coming 


A   BULL-FIGHT. 


209 


in  from  a  stroll  to  the  Zocalo,  the  second  week  after  our  arrival  in 
Mexico.  "Railway  fare,  three  dollars;  admission  to  the  Plaza  del 
Toros,  un  -peso  on  the  shady  side;  medio  peso  on  the  sunny  side. 
Say,  fellows,   shall  we  go?" 

"  But  to-morrow  is  Sunday,"  said  Moses. 

"  Si,  senor ;   but  the)-  never  have  a  bull-fight  on  any  other  day 
here,  —  n-tinca.      Todos    Domin- 
gos,  —  Sunday  or  nothing." 

w  I  don't  believe  it  will  amount 
to  much,"  Stein  observed.  "They 
are  mostly  disgraceful  affairs,  I 
am  told." 

"  But  this  is  advertised  for  a  big 
affair," urged  Karzy.  "They  have 
five  bulls,  —  howlers,  bellowers, 
tearers,  —  and  a  matador  who  is  a 
first-class  artist  in  bull-sticking." 

"  What  say,  Harold  ?  what  say, 
Wash?  "  queried  Stein.  "You've 
seen  a  bull-fight  in  Spain.  Is  it 
worth  our  while  ?  " 

"Well,  I  do  not  much  fancy  a 
bull-fight,   myself,"    replied    Bur- 
leigh.    "  Still   it  is  a  thing  to  see  ^W 
—  once." 

We  went. 

There  is  some  wonderfully 
fine  scenery  along  the  line  of  railroad  from  Mexico  to  Toluca; 
some  of  it  is  as  good  as  an)-  of  that  from  Vera  Cruz  up  to  the  city. 
This  alone  amply  repaid  us  for  the  trip.  The  train  arrived  at 
about  half-past  three  in  the  afternoon;  and  we  proceeded  imme- 
diately to  the  Plaza  del  Toros,  and  bought  seats  on  the  shady  side  of 


SSS" 


SPANISH    GRANDEE    ON    HIS    WAY    TO 
THE   FIGHT. 


2IO  THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE    TROPICS. 

the  arena,  —  a  needless  piece  of  extravagance,  for  it  soon  began 
to  rain.  There  were,  for  a  guess,  fifteen  hundred  people  present, 
mostly  typical  Mexicans,  wrapped  up   in  serapes. 

Two  pzcado?'s,  on  rather  sorry  nags,  with  their  e}Tes  carefully  blind- 
folded, were  already  in  the  arena;  also  three  or  four  gayly-dressed 
matadors,  and  some  other  light  infantry  of  the  bull-fighting  army  in 
Mexico. 

We  had  barely  got  our  seats  when  the  gate  of  the  bull-pen  was 
thrown  open,  and  there  rushed  out  into  the  ring,  evidently  impelled  by 
some  unseen  bradding  from  behind,  a  rather  indifferent  red  and  white 
bull  of  the  native  breed.  He  smelled  the  ground,  snorted,  and  was 
manifestly  scared.  Jeers  greeted  him.  The  picadors,  or  ff  prickers," 
set  upon  him  with  their  lances,  riding  past  on  their  blindfolded  horses; 
and  the  matadors  threw  bandarillos  (little  darts)  betasselled  with 
fluttering  gilt  papers  and  snapping  with  powder-crackers,  which  stuck 
in  the  poor,  bewildered  brute's  shoulders  and  flanks.  These  were 
designed  to  infuriate  him  and  work  his  courage  up  to  fighting  pitch; 
but  they  had  merely  the  effect  to  increase  his  terror.  Immediately  he 
bolted  and  went  round  the  ring,  intent  only  on  escape,  with  his  tail 
straight  in  the  air.  I  never  saw  a  bull  run  better.  The  matador-in- 
chief  could  neither  catch  him  nor  head  him  —  to  give  him  the  fatal 
thrust.  The  picadors  made  two  attempts  to  lasso  him,  but  he  went 
clear  of  both  nooses. 

The  crowd  roared  and  yelled  and  hissed  and  whistled.  There  was 
a  most  outrageous  noise —  for  Sunday. 

At  length  they  lassoed  him  round  his  erect  and  terrified  tail,  and 
flung  him  down  in  the  dirt.  The  chief  matador  ran  up,  and  while 
the  bull  was  struggling  to  regain  his  feet  thrust  a  long  rapier  into  his 
chest.  This  brave  deed  done,  he  held  up  the  ensanguined  weapon  to 
the  gaze  of  the  audience.  But  the  rabble  only  roai-ed  the  louder; 
and  as  for  the  bull,  he  lay  and  kicked  till  hauled  out  of  the  arena. 

"  I  'm  going  home,"  said  Moses. 


A   DULL-FIGHT. 


211 


"  Sit  still,"  said  Stein.     K  We  're  in  for  it." 

A  trumpet  sounded,  and  another  bull  was  spurred  into  the  ring- 
This  was  a  brindled  bull;  he  looked  vicious,  and  began  to  paw  up  the 
sand,  but  chancing  to  smell  the  blood  of  his  predecessor  on  the 
ground,  he,  too,  took  fright,  and  with  a  hideous  bawl  turned  to  get 
back  into  the  bull-pen.  Finding  the  gate  closed,  and  alarmed  still 
more  by  the  shouts  and  lancing  of  the  picadors,  he  bolted  in  turn,  and 
raised  a  still  taller  tail  than  the  first;  but  he  did  not  run  as  well. 
They  soon  lassoed  him,  when  he  shared  the  ignominious  fate  of  his 
fellow-coward. 

By  this  time  the  crowd  was  beginning  to  get  wrathy,  and  to  inti- 
mate in  loud  terms  that  the  whole  show  was  a  fraud. 

But  the  trumpet  immediately  sounded  again,  and  a  third  bull 
walked  in  —  a  tremendously  large,  calm,  good-natured  looking  fel- 
low, with  a  white  face  and  grizzled  white  and  deep  red  sides.  His 
horns  were  short,  but  large  round;  he  was  a  portly  fellow.  The  rab- 
ble stopped  jeering  to  look  at  him. 

Meantime  the  picadors  had  set  upon  him  with  their  lances  and 
bandarillos,  switching  red  and  orange  scarfs  in  his  face,  and  offering 
him  all  sorts  of  indignities. 

They  got  him  roused  up  at  length,  and  he  rushed  at  the  picadors 
with  the  roar  of  a  lion!  Quick  as  a  flash  one  horse  was  tossed  up 
like  a  sack  of  bran,  and  falling  parti)'  on  the  other,  both  went  to  the 
earth  in  a  heap.  The  picadors,  agile  as  cats,  came  down  on  their  feet 
and  scud.  The  first  horse  lay  groaning,  fatally  gored;  the  other 
scrambled  up,  but  being  blindfolded,  rushed  plump  on  the  bull,  which 
threw  it  at  least  seven  feet  clear  of  the  ground  at  one  vengeful  toss. 
The  horse  fell  heavily,  and  lay  quivering,  evidently  with  its  legs 
broken. 

By  this  time  both  picadors  and  matadors  were  pricking  and  flaunt- 
ing their  scarfs  at  the  bull  again.  But  the  beast  was  "  game."  He 
scattered  them  like  chaff;  right  and  left  he  dived  at  them,  and,  for  a 


212 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE    TROPICS. 


creature  of  his  size,  he  turned  wonderfully  short  corners,  —  uttering 

never  a  sound,  save  now  and  then  a  brusque  snort. 

The  crowd  cheered,  "  Bravo  torol  bravo  torol  "  And  our  comrade 

Moses,  too,  was  getting  fearfully  wrought  up  —  on  the  bull's  side. 
At  length  the  chief  matador  advanced  upon  the  bull  alone,  sword 

in  hand.     For  an   instant  they  confronted  each  other;   then   like   an 

avalanche  the  bull  plunged 
at  him  with  head  lowered. 
The  matador  was  certainly  a 
fellow  of  nerve;  he  tossed 
his  scarf  across  the  bull's 
forehead,  and  at  the  same 
instant  vaulting  over  the 
left  horn  of  his  antagonist, 
plunged  his  sword  deep  into 
the  massive  neck,  just  for- 
ward of  the  shoulder.  But 
he  failed  to  strike  a  vital 
part,  and  the  bull  turning 
with  one  of  his  gruff  snorts, 
pursued  him  like  a  thunder- 
bolt across  the  arena.  The 
man  had  no  time  even  to 
tack;  he  sprang  for  the  pali- 
.  sade,  —  to  bound  over  it, — 
and    the    horns   of  the  bull 

just  touching  him  as  he  jumped,  he   came  over  flying,  and  alighted 

with  a  crash  on  the  lower  benches. 

The  audience  fairly  screamed  their  applause;  and  Moses,  jumping 

up  on  his  seat,  swung  his  hat  and  shouted. 

There  was   a  lull   for  a  few   moments,  while   the    chief   matador 

picked  himself  up  and  got  breath.      He  then  entered  the  arena  again 


THE   MATADOR. 


THE   END.  2  17. 

alone,  with  his  red  serafte  and  sword,  which  he  succeeded  in  plung- 
ing- a  second  time  into  the  animal's  neck.  But  next  instant  he  had  to 
jump  the  palisade  again,  and  had  a  narrow  escape,  indeed;  the  bull's 
horns  were  driven  into  the  planks  at  his  very  back,  with  a  force  which 
made  the  whole  structure  shake.  Again  the  plaza  roared  with 
"Bravo  toro!" 

The  entire  squad  of  matadors  and  picadors  now  entered  the  arena 
together;  but  the  bull  seeming  to  recognize  at  once  the  chief  matador 
as  his  worst  and  most  deadly  enemy,  dashed  at  him,  and  regardless  of 
the  lances  and  bandarillos  of  the  others,  chased  him  to  and  fro,  and  at 
length  a  third  time  drove  him  over  the  palisade. 

But  all  this  time  the  bull  had  been  bleeding  badly.  It  soon  became 
plain  that  he  was  weakening. 

At  length  he  moved  unsteadily  toward  the  further  side  of  the  arena, 
and  there  turned  his  back  upon  his  tormentors,  not  in  fear,  but  as  if 
indifferent  now.  His  blood  was  flowing  fast,  and  his  eyes  were  fixed 
on  the  red  pool  as  if  in  despair.  Yet  on  the  matador's  approach  to 
give  him  a  finishing  stroke,  he  seemed  to  rally  his  ebbing  strength  for 
a  moment.  His  tail  lashed  his  side;  and  wheeling  half  round,  he 
plunged  heavily  at  his  murderer,  but  fell  headlong  from  the  effort, 
and  with  a  deep  breath  gave  up  his  life. 

It  was  really  a  painful  scene. 

Meantime  it  began  to  rain  harder  than  ever,  and  not  caring  to  see 
more  we  left  the  plaza,  and  went  to  the  station. 

"This  whole  business  is  a  relic  of  barbarism,"  Stein  remarked,  as 
we  went  along;  and  so  far  as  our  party  was  concerned,  there  was  no 
dissent  from  this  opinion. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

ANOTHER    SYNOD. ITEMS    OF    INTEREST    NOTED    DOWN    BY    DIFFERENT    MEMBERS 

OF     THE    PARTY,    AND    CONTRIBUTED    BY    THEM    TO     THE    GENERAL    NARRATIVE. 

THE    MEXICAN    WEST   POINT. 


BY    GERALD    S.    FORNEY. 

y-^A^r7HE  old  palace  and  fortress  of  Chapul- 
V*  I  '"  tepee,  situated  on  an  abrupt  rocky  hill 
four  or  five  miles  out  of  the  City  of 
Mexico,  is  at  present  being  handsomely 
rebuilt  and  enlarged  for  the  new  Mili- 
tary School  of  Mexico.  Here  the 
cadets  of  this  republic  will  in  future 
receive  their  military  education.  The 
location  differs  greatly  from  that  of 
our  own  West  Point  Academy.  It 
fronts  on  no  noble  river  like  the  Hud- 
son, and  is  surrounded  by  no  such  rugged  scenery  ;  yet  the  views  from  the 
castle-towers  are,  perhaps,  surpassed  by  none  in  the  world.  To  the  southward 
lies  the  great  white  city,  with  its  hundred  domes  and  towers,  as  fair  now  as  when 
Cortes  and  his  fellows  first  gazed  on  it,  relieved  against  the  broad  lake  ;  as  fair 
and  as  fine  as  when,  three  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  it  first  amazed  the  eyes 
of  Cortes  and  his  fellow-invaders.  North,  east,  and  west  the  wide  green  valley, 
with  its  long  aqueducts  and  tree-bordered  causeways,  its  maguey  plantations, 
and  wide  expanses  of  grain,  extends  off  to  the  high  mountain-rim  rising  to  the 
snow-line,  while  in  the  southwest  loom  the  grand  snow-clad  volcans. 

The  hill  of  Chapultepec  itself  rises  alone,  solitary  in  this  charming  landscape  ; 
a  rusty-brown  volcanic  pustule  thrust  up  out  of  the  plain  ages  ago  by  the  fever 
of  the  still  raging  fires  beneath  the  plain.  But  its  nakedness  is  now  beautified 
by  noble  ash  trees  and  fine  old  cypresses,  whose  tops  almost  hide  the  castle- 
walls  on  the  summit.  The  hill  seems  the  natural  sentry-box  of  the  valley  and 
the  city.     Within  the  old  portion  of  the  castle  at  the  summit  there  is  a  beau- 

2I4 


u 

w 
ft 
w 

H 
►J 
O 

< 


MEXICAN  WEST  POINT. 


217 


tiful  open  patio  and  gardens,  upon  which  the  rooms  and  saloons  open.  Here 
Maximilian  and  Carlotta  did  a  little  of  their  imperial  houskeeping,  and  are 
said  to  have  spent  some  happy  weeks  before  the  worse 
troubled  times  came  to  them. 

In    1846  Chapultepec  was  relied  on  by  the  Mexi- 
cans as  the  guardian  fort  of  the  city.     It  was  termed 
,the  Mexican  Gibraltar.     During  the  American  inva- 
sion, our  troops  captured  it   after  a  sharp  as- 
sault and  hand  to-hand  fight.      How 
they  ever  got  up  the  rocky 
sides    of    the  hill    in    the 
face  of  a  hostile  fire,  seems 
a     wonderful    exploit      at 
arms. 

A  very  handsome  monu- 
ment at  the  foot  of  the 
winding  way  has  been 
raised  in  memory  of  the 
Mexican  officers  who  fell 
en  la  Invasion  Norte  Ameri- 
cana, as  the  inscription 
runs,  which  one  of  our 
party  freely  translated  :  — 
"  In  the  naughty  Ameri- 
can Invasion,"  —  not  with- 
out a  grain  of  truth,  I 
fear. 

The  present  Mexican 
army  numbers  rather  over 
thirty  thousand  men.  They 
seem  a  fairly  well-equipped  and  hardy  body  of  soldiers.  It  is  quite  possible  that 
the  next  nation  which  attacks  Mexico,  thinking  to  find  the  business  a  mere 
holiday  excursion,  may  be'  a  good  deal  disappointed  in  the  result. 


CASTLE  OF  CHAPULTEPEC. 


MEXICAN   PAPER. 

BY    WASH. 


One  of  the  amusing  things  in  a  Mexican  shop  is  to  see  the  aggrieved  expres- 
sion which  will  come  over  the  face  of  the  shopman,  if  asked  to  wrap  up  the  pur- 
chases that  you  have  just  made  of  him.     And  if  he  attempts  to  oblige  you  in 


PYRAMID    OF  CHOLULA. 

this  respect,  you  will  smile  again  at  the  coarse  quality  of  the  paper  and  the 
stingy  little  bit  which  he  spares  you  off  the  carefully  kept  parcel  under  the 
counter. 

But  there  is  good  reason  for  such  parsimony.  If  he  were  to  allow  you  a 
large  piece,  such  as  an  American  shopman  would  use,  his  profits  would  dis- 
appear with  the  paper. 

Paper  of  all  kinds  is  very  dear  in  Mexico,  though  no  country  is  more  abun- 

21S 


EAR-BEAN.  2iq 

dantly  supplied  by  nature  with  paper-making  materials.  At  present  there  are 
few  paper-mills  in  the  country,  and  these  small.  The  demand  for  paper  is 
rapidly  on  the  increase,  particularly  printing-paper ;  and  the  tariff  on  imported 
papers  is  high,  and  likely  to  remain  so.  On  the  various  grades  of  imported 
papers,  including  cigarette-paper,  the  custom-house  charges  are  from  ten  to 
seventy  cents  per  kilogramme  (2  1-5  lbs.). 

The  present  prices  of  paper  in  Mexico,  are  about  as  follows  :  — 

Coarse  wrapping-paper,  from  ten  to  twelve  cents  per  pound.  White  paper 
for  printing  newspapers,  etc.,  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  cents  per  pound.  Very 
ordinary  letter-paper,  at  retail,  fifty  cents  per  quire.  Common,  rather  thin 
note-paper,  twenty-five  cents  per  quire. 

Here  should  be  a  good  field  for  American  capital  and  industry.  A  score  of 
paper-mills,  each  in  the  vicinity  of  some  large  town,  ought,  every  one  of  them, 
to  yield  its  owner  a  fortune  if  rightly  managed. 

The  materials  for  paper-making  in  Mexico  are  abundant  and  cheaply  ob- 
tained. The  American  aloe,  agave,  or  maguey  plant  (from  the  juice  of  which 
pulque  is  made),  grows  to  gigantic  size  here  ;  and  its  leaves  yield  an  immense 
quantity  of  tough  fibre,  which  is  readily  bleached  and  ground  for  paper.  Four 
or  five  kinds  of  plantain,  which  grow  very  luxuriantly  in  the  warm  districts, 
afford  a  very  fine  white  fibre,  in  unlimited  quantities.  A  rush,  called  tide, 
which  the  Indians  now  use  chiefly  for  mats,  carpets,  baskets,  and  chairs,  and 
which  grows  plentifully  without  cultivation,  is  pronounced  a  superb  paper  stuff. 
The  alacle  and  other  plants  of  the  malvaceee  family  grow  commonly,  especially  in 
the  State  of  Morelos.  Many  others,  thepochote,  the  cuanlaliuac,  the  huinare,  the 
"pasties,"  or  henos,  are  used  for  paper,  and  said  to  afford  the  best  of  material. 
Then  there  are  numerous  plants  of  the  cotton  family  and  cacti  growing  wild, 
and  covering  vast  tracts  of  country,  all  of  which  are  readily  utilized  for  paper- 
making. 


THE   MEXICAN   EAR-BEAN. 

BY    HAROLD. 

Recently,  while  out  duck-shooting  on  the  shore  of  one  of  those  incomparable 
lakes  which  render  Michoacan  the  most  picturesque  of  Mexican  States,  the 
attention  of  the  writer  was  drawn  to  a  group  of  native  women  and  children  in 
the  woods  hard  by,  busily  engaged  picking  up  in  baskets  what  might  at  first 
sight  have  been  mistaken  for  nuts.     Curious  to  know  what  sort  of  nuts  they 


220  THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE  TROPICS. 

were,   I    drew  near  and  asked    a  bright  little   Indian  boy  what  he  had  there. 
"  Que  tiene  en  su  canistral"  I  said  to  him. 

"  Cascalotes,  senor"  was  his  instant  reply. 

"Y  que  son  cascalotes  f"   I  queried. 

This  latter  question  proved  rather  a  difficult  one  for  the  little  fellow  ;  but  a 
little  girl,  a  year  or  two  older,  and  possibly  his  sister,  came  forward. 

"  Cascalotes  son  frigoles,  senor,"  she  said ;  and  I  further  learned  from  her 
that  these  frigoles  (beans)  were  sold  by  the  Indians  for  a  claco  por  libra,  —  a 
cent  and  a  half  per  pound,  —  and  that  they  went  in  a  great  baqne  (ship)  across 
the  sea  to  Francia  (France),  where  they  were  used  for  tanning  bccerro  (leather) 
for  zapatos  (shoes). 

All  this  from  a  little  tawny  Indian  girl  not  more  than  eleven  years  old. 
Furthermore,  I  learned  that  this  bean  was  named  from  its  resemblance  to  the 
human  ear,  which  surely  enough  it  did  look  like  somewhat ;  and  that  in  their 
language  it  was  simply  the  ear-bean. 

It  was  news  to  me  that  there  was  a  kind  of  bean  which  contained  the  astrin- 
gent principle  necessary  to  tan  leather.  I  bethought  myself  of  the  ruthless  man- 
ner in  which  whole  forests  of  oak  and  hemlock  are  annually  felled  and  stripped 
of  their  bark  in  the  United  States  and  in  Canada  to  procure  the  material  for 
tanning ;  and  that,  too,  in  sections  where  drouth  from  the  destruction  of  the  for- 
ests is  becoming  more  oppressive  every  year.  It  seemed  to  me  that  this 
ear-bean  might  be  imported  to  stay,  in  some  degree  at  least,  this  great  evil.  I 
spent  an  entire  day  collecting  facts  concerning  it,  which  may  be  condensed  in 
the  following  paragraph  :  — ■ 

These  ear-beans  grow  wild  on  a  small  tree,  which  reaches  the  height  of 
twenty  and  thirty  feet,  with  wide,  branching  limbs.  As  many  as  ten  bushels 
of  the  odd,  crooked  beans  often  grow  on  a  single  tree.  When  ripe  they  fall  to 
the  ground,  and  cover  many  extensive  tracts.  Not  only  in  Michoacan,  but  in 
Colima  and  Guerrero,  untold  thousands  of  bushels  rot  ungathered  in  the  forests. 
It  is  not  difficult  to  hire  the  Indians  to  pick  them  up  at  one  cent  per  pound. 
The  little  Indian  snrl  told  me  that  she  gathered  "  dos  cientos  libras,"  two  hun- 
dred  pounds,  in  a  day.  To  be  used  for  tanning  the  beans  have  only  to  be  dried 
and  ground  ;  and  so  rich  are  thev  in  the  astringent  qualities  that  a  very  small 
quantity  of  the  bean-meal  is  sufficient  to  tan  a  hide.  The  French  tanners,  I  am 
informed,  have  been  quite  willing  to  pay  ten  cents  a  pound  for  the  dry  beans  ; 
it  is  probable  that  they  could  be  furnished  to  American  tanners  for  one-half 
that  sum. 


-■■'-,-■■■  T.  ■•.-,1.-;-i|"',.r, 


o 

u 


!3 


AZTEC  RUINS. 


223 


SOME   AZTEC   JAWBREAKERS. 


BY    KARZV. 


For  fifteen  or  twenty  years  past  our  newspapers  and  other  periodicals  have 
been  in  the  habit  of  astonishing  their  readers  at  regular  intervals  with  a  list  of 
the  traffic,  and  apparently 
unpronounceable  names  of 
the  Maine  Lakes  —  as  a 
curiosity,  For  example : 
Mooselukmaguntic,  Apmoo- 
geenagamook,  Abolgecar- 
maguscook,  et  als. 

But  this  list  will  probably 
never  appear  in  print  again. 
We  take  some  credit  to  our- 
selves for  having  imported 
recently  from  Mexico,  at 
some  expense  and  pain  to 
the  printers,  another  and  far 
superior  list,  the  merits  of 
which  we  feel  sure  all  our 
contemporaries  will  at  once 
recognize.  We  have  not 
been  so  selfish  as  to  copy- 
right it.  It  shall  be  com- 
mon property. 

Not  to  paralyze  the  public 
we  open  the  list  with  an 
easy  one  —  the  name  of  one 
of  the  beautiful  snow-clad 
volcans,  which  tower  on  the 
southern  rim  of  the  valley 
of  Mexico, — Ixtacciliuatl.  At  present  it  is  one  of  the  American  tourists' 
first  task,  on  visiting  the  Mexican  capital,  to  properly  pronounce  this  word  ; 
and  it  commonly  takes  him  from  two  days  to  a  week,  according  to  the  supple- 


MEXICAN    WAR-GOD,    HUITZILOPOCHTLI. 


224 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE   TROPICS. 


ness  of  his  lingual  apparatus.     It  should  be  enunciated,  eats-starts-se.&-wart-l, 
with  the  accent  on  the  next  to  the  final  syllable. 


o 


< 


Try  next  the  Aztec  word  for  a  kiss  ;  we  find  this  with  us  briefly-named 
token  of  affection,  much  prolonged,  — drawn  out,  in  fact.  It  is  teteunamiquiliztli. 
One  can  all  but  hear  the  shrill  smack  with  which  it  terminates.     It  would  be  a 


IDOLS. 


225 


-<§5~i 


useless  and  vain  torture  of  the  English  alphabet  to  attempt  to  depict  its  pro- 
nunciation. This  reminds  us  that  the  Aztec  word  for  torture  is  tetlayhiduilti- 
liztli.  When  this  has  been  decently  en- 
dured, take,  —  Ichpopochtin,  meaning  girls  ; 
Telpopochtin,  boys. 

Amatlaciiilolitgiiitcatiaxtlahnilli,  the  pay 
of  a  courier. 

Tetlatolaniliztli,  a  demand. 

Mimmiztin,  cats  ;  and  then  enunciate 
softly  and  distinctly,  —  Notlaxomahuizte- 
spixcatatzin,  the  Aztec  word  for  their 
paternal  priest. 

There  are  plenty  more,  but  the  above 
will  probably  suffice  for  the  reader's  first 
exercise  in  Aztec. 

The  idols  are  about  as  ugly  as  their 
names,  and  bear  strange  resemblamce  to 
birds,  beasts,  and  fishes,  as  well  as  to  hu- 
manity. 

The  open  mouth  of  a  beast  often  dis- 
closes a  human  face,  as  in  the  accompany- 
ing illustration. 

It  is  remarkable  what  a  number  of  archae- 
ological treasures  are  being  continually  unearthed,  which  are  adding  materially 
to  our  knowledge  of  this  ancient  but  interesting  civilization. 


AZTEC   IDOL. 


MEXICAN   MONEY. 


BY    STEIN. 


The  money  of  Mexico  is  nominally  in  peso  (dollars)  and  centavos  (cents) ;  and 
the  standard  is  what  is  termed  a  mixed  one,  gold  and  silver  combined,  as  is  that 
of  the  United  States.  Mexican  gold,  however,  is  rare  money,  difficult  to  obtain  ; 
and  in  exchange  their  twenty-dollar  piece  is  not  worth  quite  as  much  as  our 
own  "double  eagle,"  though  of  exactly  the  same  weight. 

But  one  gets  very  little  idea  of  the  current  names  of  coins  and  the  common 
language  of  the  people  in  buying  and  selling  from  consulting  the  written  table 
of  a  nation's  money 


226 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE   TROPICS. 


In  a  Mexican  shop  you  hear  nothing  of  centavos  (cents).  Ask  the  price  of 
some  small  article,  and  you  will  very  likely  receive  for  answer,  "  U?i  claco, 
sehor." 

A  claco  is  an  old  copper  coin  worih  a  cent  and  a  half.  Or  perhaps  the  shop- 
man will  say,  Cuatillo  (pronounced  quart-ee-yd). 

A  cuatillo  is  two  clacos.  If  the  article  is  of  rather  greater  value  he  may  say, 
"  un  medio,"  or  perhaps  "  iin  real." 

A  medio  is  a  little  silver  coin  worth  six  and  a  quarter  cents  ;  a  real  is  twelve 
and  a  half  cents,  very  like  in  size  and  value  to  an  old  English  "  ninepence." 


43e 


BSWm  MB  fan 


e®o  + 


AZTEC    NUMBERS. 


If  you  have  survived  the  ordeal  of  a  Mexican  barber-shop,  and  arisen — un- 
recognizable to  your  dearest  friends  —  from  under  the  handiwork  of  a  Mexican 
artist  in  pelo-corta,  this  gentleman  will  probably  announce  his  fee  to  you  as  "  dos 
rcales,  seuor,"  two  reals,  which  is  our  twenty-five  cents,  or  the  "  two  bits  "  of  the 
West. 

Articles  and  fees  of  higher  rate  are  commonly  given  as  tri  rcales,  cicatro 
reales,  seis  or  sei'  (pronounced  say)  rcales,  side  rcales,  and  so  on,  up  to  veinte 
rcales,  twenty  reals  ;  or  perhaps  trcs  rcales  y  medio,  or  cuatro  rcales  y  medio,  and 
the  like,  so  on. 

Practically  silver  is  the  standard  of  value  in  Mexico.  The  various  Nacional 
and  other  bancos  issue  five,  ten,  twenty,  and  fifty  dollar  notes,  which   you  may 


A  PROVERB.  22w 

or  may  not  find  at  a  discount  in  the  different  States  and  cities.  It  is  safer  to 
take  your  money  in  silver  dollars.  But  this  —  even  if  you  have  no  more  than 
one  or  two  hundred  dollars  —  is  one  of  the  burdens  of  life  in  Mexico.  Two 
hundred  dollars  in  silver  weighs  almost  seventeen  pounds,  and  if  you  are  un- 
lucky enough  to  have  a  thousand  dollars  your  situation  is,  indeed,  deplorable ! 
You  must  watch  it  as  never  a  cat  watches  a  mouse,  or  it  will  be  stolen  ;  and  on 
all  the  stage  and  railway  lines  they  charge  you  from  six  to  ten  and  twelve 
cents  per  kilogramme  weight,  till  the  pile  dwindles  away  paying  its  own  transpor- 
tation. Yet  no  tourist  must  make  the  mistake  of  taking  the  paper  bank-notes 
out  of  the  country.  These  are  practically  worthless  everywhere  out  of  Mexico  ; 
and  as  for  the  Mexican  silver  dollars  they  are  worth  nominally,  at  present 
valuation,  eighty-six  cents  each  at  exchange  in  New  York  and  other  larger  cities 
in  the  United  States,  but  no  more  than  eighty  cents  if  you  have  a  few  to  pass 
in  making  small  purchases.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  as  trade  and  travel  in- 
creases between  the  two  republics  some  more  convenient  money  medium  may 
be  devised. 


TOUGH   AS   A   BULL. 

BY    MOSES    O. 

"  Tough  as  a  bull  "  is  a  phrase  which  has  passed  into  a  proverb,  the  truth  of 
which  was  well  demonstrated  by  an  incident  which  occurred  a  few  weeks  since 
on  board  the  steamship  "  City  of  Merida,"  while  lying  off  Progresso,  the  port  of 
Merida,  the  capital  of  the  Mexican  State  of  Yucatan. 

Progresso  has  no  harbor.  Vessels  coming  here  have  to  anchor  five  or  six 
miles  off  the  coast,  and  transfer  their  freights  to  large  "  lighters,"  which  put  off 
to  receive  it.  Even  at  this  distance  from  shore  there  is  not  more  than  forty 
feet  of  water.  These  are  the  "  grand  banks  "  of  Yucatan,  where  extensive  fish- 
eries are  made. 

There  were  on  board  the  steamer  two  large,  short-horn  bulls,  which  the 
owner  of  a  stock-range  inland  was  importing  at  a  considerable  expense  ;  one  of 
them  in  particular  was  a  very  fine  animal,  weighing  about  two  thousand  pounds, 
round,  well-knit,  and  of  a  "  glossy,  grizzle "  color,  with  a  few  yellow-white 
patches  on  his  sleek  sides.  All  through  the  voyage  we  had  been  admiring  him 
as  he  stood  in  his  temporary  stall  in  the  forward  hold,  his  feet  set  wide  apart  to 
brace  himself  against  the  rolling  motion  of  the  ship. 

When  the  moment  for  disembarking  him  to  the  lighter  came,  the  deck  hands 


22g  THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE  TROPICS. 

—  who,  perhaps,  stood  a  little  in  fear  of  him  —  passed  a  broad,  stout  canvas 
sling  beneath  his  belly  merely.  Into  this  a  tackle  and  block,  descending  from 
the  yard  and  worked  by  the  "  pony  "  engine,  was  hooked,  when  presto  !  Mr. 
Taurus  was  run  up  through  the  hatchway,  and  in  ;\  moment  hung  suspended 
fifteen  feet  above  the  main  deck,  his  eyes  rolling  in  surly  amazement  at  his 
sudden  elevation  and  the  wide  expanse  of  sea  and  sky  about  him. 

They  then  hooked  another  block  into  his  sling  in  order  to  swing  him  off 
clear  of  the  vessel,  to  lower  him  into  the  lighter,  which  lay  alongside.  But 
with  the  first  pull  on  this  second  line  the  great  animal's  body,  not  being  properly 
secured  in  the  sling,  slid  out  of  it  backwards  and  fell  —  turning  a  somersault  as 
he  went  down  —  upon  the  outer  verge  of  the  deck,  and  thence  bounded  off, 
turning  still  another  somersault,  into  the  bottom  of  the  lighter  !  —  a  distance 
of  at  least  thirty-five  feet. 

The  lighter  shook ! 

"  He  's  a  dead  bull  !  "  "  Must  have  broken  every  bone  in  him  !  "  He  's 
burst !  "  were  some  of  the  exclamations  that  rose  from  all  who  saw  the  animal 
fall. 

For  a  moment  or  two  the  big  fellow  lay  quite  still.  One  of  the  men  threw  a 
bucket  of  water  over  him,  whereat  he  shook  his  head,  and  to  the  surprise  of 
everybody,  got  up,  gave  his  side  a  lash  with  his  tail,  and,  stepping  along  to  a 
bale  of  hay,  began  to  help  himself  as  if  nothing  of  any  consequence  had  hap- 
pened. 

Apparently  he  was  unhurt  ;  and  whatever  his  opinion  may  have  been  of  the 
clumsy  way  in  which  he  was  trans-shipped,  he  kept  it  contemptuously  to  himself. 


THE    CATHOLIC    CHURCH    IN    MEXICO. 

BY    THE    DIVINITY    STUDENT. 

There  are  in  Mexico  three  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy-four  Catholic 
churches  and  cathedrals,  and  scarcely  more  than  six  Protestant  churches. 
Mexico  may,  therefore,  be  correctly  regarded  as  a  Catholic  country,  and,  indeed, 
it  would  be  difficult  to  over-estimate  the  influence  of  this  Church  with  the  com- 
mon people. 

It  would  be  a  great  mistake,  however,  to  suppose  that  the  Church  has  any 
controlling  influence  in  government  affairs.  In  this  respect  Mexico  is  at  pres- 
ent the  most  liberal  country  in  the  world.     The  former  power  of  the  Church 


THE   CHURCH. 


229 


has  been  absolutely  nullified.  Under  the  wise  administration  of  Benito  Juarez 
in  1867,  all  the  property  of  the  Church,  to  the  amount  of  nigh  three  hundred 
million  dollars,  was  ""nationalized," — 
confiscated  for  the  use  of  the  na- 
tion. All  the  churches  and  cathe- 
drals are  now  the  absolute  property 
of  the  civil  government,  not  of  the 
Church  ;  and  the  priests  are  merely 
tenants  by  courtesy  of  that  govern- 
ment. Any  or  all  these  churches  are 
liable  at  any  moment  to  be  taken 
possession  of,  and  used  for  national 
purposes. 

At  the  same  time  the  Jesuits  and 
several  other  ambitious  Catholic  soci- 
eties were  suppressed,  and  their  per- 
sonnel sent  out  of  the  country. 

Religious  processions  and  parades 
are  strictly  prohibited  by  law.  Any 
priest  appearing  in  the  streets  or  any- 
where out  of  the  church  edifice  in  his 
clerical  robes  is  subject  to  fine  and 
imprisonment. 

Such  a  law  seems  arbitrary,  but 
was  necessary  to  prevent  the  absurd 
custom  of  the  people  kissing  the 
hands  of  the  priests  in  the  streets. 
Twenty  years  ago  it  was  common  to 
see  crowds  of  the  peons  paying  a 
medio  or  a  real  for  the  privilege  of 
kissing  the  padre's  hand  in  the  street. 
The  liberal  rulers  of  Mexico  judged 
rightly  that  no  proper  self-respect 
could  be  engendered  in  a  people  when 
addicted  to  such  abject  practices. 

The  civil  officials  register  births,  perform  the  marriage  ceremony,  and  take 
charge  of  the  burial  of  the  dead.  While  it  is  not  prohibited  to  the  Church  to 
marry,  marriages  may  still  be  solemnized  by  a  priest  if  the  parties  desire  ;  but 
the  ceremony  has  no  validity.     Civil  marriages  alone  are  legal. 


MEXICAN    PRIESTS    OF    THE   PAST. 


23° 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE    TROPICS. 


These  reforms  are  the  hard-earned  results  of  sixty  years'  warfare  between  the 
Church  and  the  liberal  progressive  party  in  Mexico. 

Under  the  brief  reign  of  Maximilian  the  powers  of  the  Church  revived  ;  but 
with  the  final  triumph  of  Juarez,  in  1867,  all  the  reform  laws  were  put  in  rigid 
execution. 

There  is  an  anecdote  of  Gen.  Diaz,  — 
the  same  who  has  of  late  made  so  bril- 
liant a  tour  in  the  United  States.  While 
at  one  time  a  prisoner  in  the  hands  of 
the  rival  party,  and  confined  in  the  rear 
of  an  old  church,  he  was  awakened  from 
sleep  at  the  dead  of  night  by  the  pres- 
'     ence  of  a  priest  in  his  dungeon. 

"  My  son,"  said  the  ecclesiastic, 
"  swear  to  me  that  you  will  reinstate 
the  Church  in  her  former  powers,  and 
I  will  set  you  at  liberty  this  night,  and 
the  Holy  Church  shall  support  all  your 
claims  to  authority. 

Diaz  was  ambitious,  but  had  no  mind 
to  owe  his  elevation  to  the  Church. 

"  How   have  you    entered    my    cell, 
padre?"  he  asked. 
"  By  a  secret  passage  leading  from  the  church,"  was  the  reply. 
"  Surely,  where  you  have  come  in,  I  can  go  out,"  exclaimed  the  future  presi- 
dent ;  and,  bounding  off  his  couch,  he  threw  the  priest  on  the  floor,  gagged 
him,  and   tied  him   hand  and  foot  with  his  black  robes,  torn   in  strips.     This 
done,  he  walked  out  and  escaped. 

Episodes  like  this  illustrate,  though  but  faintly,  the  long,  bitter,  and  invet- 
erate struggle  between  Church  and  State  in  Mexico. 


GENERAL  PORFIRIO  DIAZ. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 


FOPOCATAPETL. A     PERMIT     TO      ASCEND      THE     VOLCAN. AMECAMECA. THE 

VOLCANEROS.  GRAND    VIEWS.  IXTACCIHUATL.  AT    THE    HALF-WAY    RAN- 

CHO. SULPHUR     MOULDING. A     COLD     NIGHT    AND    A    FROSTY    MORNING. 

THE   LINE  OF  ETERNAL    SNOW. IN   THE  BLACK    SAND. COLLAPSE    OF    MOSES 

AND      THE      SCRIBE    SNOW-BLIND. VICTORY     FOR     A     FEW.  THE     TOP     OF 

POPO.  THE    CRATER.  "  WE  'VE    CLIMBED    IT." FAREWELL    TO    MEXICO. 


HOUGH  we  have  no  personal 
interest  in  recommending  any- 
body's book,  we  venture  to  sug- 
gest to  every  }roung  tourist  to 
read  —  either  on  his  voyage  to 
Mexico,  or  immediately  on  his 
arrival  in  the  country  —  Pres- 
cott's  "  Conquest  of  Mexico," 
and  General  Wallace's  "Fair  God."  These  books  will  make  his 
visit  signify  a  great  deal  more  to  him,  and  invest  all  the  places 
and  scenes,  particularly  those  about  the  capital,  with  true  classic 
interest. 

Going  out  along  the  tranvia  to  Atzcapotzalco,  we  pass  a  large, 
gnarled  old  tree,  inclosed  by  a  railing.  Ordinarily,  it  might  attract 
no  more  than  a  passing  notice;  but  our  reading  enabled  us  to  identify 
it  as  the  venerable  tree  beneath  which  Cortez  sat  after  the  memorable 
passage  of  the  causeway,  on  the  noche  triste,  when  all  seemed  lost. 

On  the  street  leading  out  northwest  from  the  Alameda,  we  pass  a 
shop  bearing  as  its  sign  the  words,  "  Salto  de  Alvarado."  Hard  by  is 
the  place  where,  according  to  history,  Alvarado  made  his  wonderful 

231 


232 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE    TROPICS. 


leap  for  life,  when  pursued  by  the  Aztecs  along  the  causeway  to  the 
fatal  gap  of  the  drawbridge,  where  so  many  of  his  countrymen    per- 


GAME   OF   THE   FLIERS. 

ished  on  the  noche  triste.      And  so  of  a  score  other  places  which 
the  wonderful  story  of  the  past  will  illumine. 


POP  OCA  TAPE  TL.  233 

Our  month  in  Mexico  was  drawing  to  a  close;  but  ere  setting  off 
by  rail  and  diligence  for  San  Bias,  on  the  Pacific  coast,  where  we 
were  to  take  the  steamer  for  San  Francisco,  we  determined  to  crown 
our  visit  by  climbing  Popocatapetl,  the  taller  of  the  grand  snow-clad 
volcanoes  which  tower  on  the  southern  rim  of  the  valley.  Toward 
these,  morning  and  evening,  the  admiring,  longing  glances  of  several 
of  our  party  had  been  directed,  and  at  length  a  vote  was  obtained 
to  attempt  the  ascent. 

Popocatapetl  has  an  owner.  It  is  the  property  of  the  Mexican 
General  Ochoa,  who  works  the  sulphur  mines  at  the  bottom  of  the 
crater,  —  for  the  destruction  of  his  country's  foes.  It  is  necessary  to 
have  a  permit  from  him  to  visit  the  summit.  Our  first  application 
for  one  was  not  crowned  with  success,  not  from  any  lack  of  courtesy 
on  the  part  of  the  general,  but  on  account  of  the  great  quantity  of 
snow  on  the  mountain.  He  did  not  deem  it  safe  for  us  to  make  the 
attempt,  and  we  were  refused  a  permit,  solely  for  our  own  good.  It  was 
not  easy  to  find  fault  with  such  a  man.  During  all  the  first  days  of 
March  the  mountain  was  snow-clad  for  seven  thousand  feet  down- 
ward from  its  summit;  but  soon  after  the  20th  of  the  month  the 
weather  became  warmer,  and  the  snow-line  retreated  upward.  In  con- 
sequence of  this  change  a  permit  was  accorded  us. 

We  were  advised  by  some  to  go  to  Puebla,  and  make  that  place 
our  point  of  departure  for  the  mountain.  Others  assured  us  that 
Amecameca,  a  large  village  on  the  narrow-guage  railway  to  Morelos, 
was  the  best  place  to  ascend  from.  In  some  doubt,  we  chose  the 
latter  route;  and,  having  mustered  our  party,  and  provided  ourselves 
with  what  seemed  a  proper  equipment  in  the  way  of  heavy  boots,  old 
suits,  iron-shod  staves,  green  goggles,  and  weapons,  we  left  the  city 
at  7.30  in  the  morning,  and  reached  Amecameca  at  10.15. 

We  established  ourselves  for  the  day  at  the  hotel  and  restaurant 
alongside  of  the  station,  and  busied  ourselves  in  bespeaking  various 
volcaneros  —  men  who  work  the  sulphur  mine  in  the  crater  of  Popo- 


234 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLU3  IN  THE    TROPICS. 


catapetl  —  as  guides  for  our  proposed  ascent  next  morning.  At  length 
we  made  a  bargain  with  two  brothers,  named  Ruiz,  who  were  to 
furnish  five  peons  and  thirteen  horses,  in  addition  to  their  own  ser- 
vices, for  the  sum  of  twenty  dollars  per  day,  be  the  trip  longer 
or  shorter.  No  one  could  find  fault  with  such  terms,  particularly  as 
they  were  to  board   themselves.     The  names  of  the   brothers  were 


AN    ANCIENT   AZTEC    TE0CELLI. 


Manuel  and  Pedro  ;  and  among  the  peons,  as  we  learned  next  day, 
there  were  two  Joses,  one  Jose  Maria  (Mary  Joseph),  and  a  Jesus, — 
all  young  male  Indians,  dressed  in  white  cotton  and  shod  with  open 
sandals.  Jesus,  in  fact,  is  a  very  common  given-name  among  these 
people.  The  pronunciation  is  Haysooz;  and  as  it  seems  rather  sacri- 
legious to  northern  ears  to  call  a  boy  Jesus,  we  will  speak  of  our  peon 
as  Havsooz. 


THE  ASCENT. 


235 


It  took  a  vast  deal  of  bargaining  to  accomplish  this  arrangement; 
but  we  still  had  time  left  to  lie  foi*  an  hour  in  the  shade  of  the  grand 
old  cedars  at  the  foot  of  the  Hill  of  the  Sacrament,  and  watch  the 
setting  sun  on  the  mountains.  It  had  been  very  smoky  during  the 
forenoon,  and  clouds  had  at  times  obscured  the  white  peaks;  but 
toward  sunset  these  were  wafted  away;  and  the  golden  light 
resting  on  the  vast  sheets  of  snow  and  ice  created  for  us  a  scene  so 
ethereally  beautiful  that  we  could  scarcely  believe  it  to  be  part  and 
parcel  of  our  commonplace  old  earth.  But  there  were  things  at  the 
"  hotel  "  where  we  passed  the  night,  both  at  our  table  and  in  our 
couches,  which  fully  demonstrated  that  no  spot  on  earth  is  perfect  as 
yet.  We  need  refer  to  them  no  further  than  to  say  that  they  materially 
assisted  us  to  rise  at  an  early  hour.  At  five  o'clock  our  entire  party 
of  nine  young  gentlemen  were  astir  to  a  man.  Coffee  was  taken, 
and  everything  in  the  way  of  equipments  prepared.  Mr.  Brett  had  an 
aneroid  barometer,  and  Forney  undertook  to  carry  up  a  thermometer; 
we  affected  nothing  further  in  the  line  of  scientific  instruments. 
Altogether  we  had  five  repeating-carbines.  Each  man,  too,  had  a 
revolver;  and,  being  so  large  a  party,  we  concluded  that  we  could 
safely  dispense  with  the  services  of  a  guard  of  soldiers,  with  which 
solitary  tourists  up  the  mountain  are  commonly  provided  as  a  protec- 
tion against  robbers  and  mountain-lions.  And,  indeed,  the  nume- 
rous black  crosses  along  the  various  paths  leading  up  the  sides  of 
Popocatepetl  abundantly  indicate  that  such  a  guard  is  necessary. 
Each  of  these  funereal  emblems  marks  the  spot  where  some  luckless 
pedestrian  has  been  laid  aside. 

At  length  the  horses  —  wiry  little  scrubs  —  and  mules  were  mus- 
tered, and  we  mounted  and  set  off  from  the  hotel  toward  the  moun- 
tain. The  morning  was  delightfully  fresh,  as  are  all  the  mornings  on 
the  great  plateau.  For  an  hour  we  rode  past  fields  of  barley  and 
maize,  gradually  ascending  to  the  pines. 

The  Indian  laborers  were  astir,  trotting  along  their  paths  with  their 


2,5  THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN   THE    TROPICS. 

back-loads  of  jarras,  fruit,  and  petate.     Soon  we  began  to  meet  mules, 
drao-o-ino-  sticks  of  timber  down  from  the  mountain.      Instead  of  carts, 


MONTEZUMA. 


they  here    fasten  a  squared  timber  on  each  side  of  the  animal,  and 
allow  the  ends  to  drag  on  the  ground. 

The  path  taken  by  our  guides  presently  grew  steeper.    We  had  fre- 
quent barrancas,  or  ravines,  to  cross,  and  for  the  next  three  or  four 


THE  RANCKO. 


237 


hours  worked  our  way  steadily  upward,  not  without  some  difficult 
riding  for  several  of  our  party.  The  peons,  bearing  loads  of  provi- 
sions, overcoats,  blankets,  etc.,  followed  on  foot.  As  yet  we  experi- 
enced no  difficulty  of  respiration  on  account  of  the  height,  which  was 
already  several  thousand  feet  above  sea-level. 

At  eleven  o'clock  we  reached  a  rancho,  which  at  present  serves  as  a 
half-way  house  for  tourists  climbing  the  mountain.  Formerly  it  was 
a  stock-ranch,  but  now  the  buildings  are  used  as  a  rude  fabrica  for 
subliming  and  molding  sulphur  brought  down  from  the  crater.  They 
melt  it  in  earthen  jarras,  which  are  broken  from  the  sulphur  cake  when 
cool. 

We  had  a  letter  from  General  Ochoa  to  the  foreman,  or  major- 
domo,  of  the  rancho;  but  we  found  no  one  about  the  premises  except 
two  peons,  who  could  not  read  a  word  either  in  script  or  print.  Our 
two  guides  explained  to  them  the  purport  of  the  letter;  and,  although 
they  were  far  from  cordial,  they  did  not  withstand  our  taking  posses- 
sion of  the  casa,  and  making  ourselves  at  home  in  it.  The  place  is 
in  a  wooded  valley,  well  up  toward  the  limit  of  vegetation.  Even  at 
noon  the  air  was  cool  and  fresh.  There  is  an  ice-cold  brook  hard  by. 
It  is  a  good  situation  for  a  half-way  house,  though  rather  cold,  as  we 
began  to  feel  by  three  in  the   afternoon. 

There  were  barely  accommodations  for  so  large  a  party.  In  fact, 
there  was  but  one  bed,  and  that  a  strip  of  straw  mat,  nailed  to  a  bed- 
stead. This  the  balance  of  the  party  very  magnanimously  voted  to 
the  scribe  and  the  cadet,  both  of  whom  were  too  bashful  to  decline. 
The  others  had  the  usual  reward  of  self-sacrifice,  and  in  this  case 
slept  on  the  floor  of  the  rancho,  with  their  saddles  or  overcoats  for 
pillows. 

The  morning  seemed  like  a  December  morning  in  a  New  England 
forest.  All  the  trees  were  sparkling  with  frost;  an  inch  or  two  of 
snow  lay  about,  and  to  crown  the  resemblance  wintry  little  chick-a- 
dees  were  hopping  from  twig  to  twig.     Moses  came  out  sneezing, 


238 


THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE   TROPICS. 


and  there  was  a  chorus  of  nasal  notes  and  coughing  from  the  entire 
party. 

By  sunrise  our  coffee  was  prepared ;  and  by  seven  the  horses  were 
saddled,  and  all  was  ready  for  the  ascent  of  the  great  white  cone, 
glimpses  of  which  we  could  catch  through  the  pines  about  the  rancho. 

Step  by  step  our  horses  toiled  upward  through  the  pine  woods. 
Another  deep  barranca  was  crossed  with  difficulty;  and  then  emerg- 
ing on  a  sudden  from  the  gnarled  scrub,  we  found  ourselves  at  the  foot 
of  a  vast  bed  of  loose,  black  sand,  which  is  said  to  have  been  ejected 
from  the  volcan  during  some  pre-historic  irruption.  It  lay  on  a  slope 
nearly  as  steep  as  the  ordinary  gambrel-roof  of  a  house,  —  steeper  in 
fact,  in  many  places,  —  and  the  feet  of  the  horses  sank  into  it  to 
their  fetlocks  at  each  step.  Worse  still,  the)'  slid  backwards  in  it  at 
least  two  steps  in  three;  and  the  lightness  of  the  air  adding  to  their 
other  troubles,  their  distressed  pantings  soon  became  painful  to  hear. 
This  anomalous  sort  of  progress,  too,  was  nearly  as  tiresome  to  us  who 
rode.  Moses,  Brett,  and  the  "Thelog"  immediately  dismounted 
and  waded  upward  on  foot;  but  the  guides  advised  us  all  to  ride, 
saying  that  we  should  have  walking  enough  to  do  later. 

The  sand-beds  may  not  have  been  much  over  a  mile  in  width,  but 
we  were  certainly  two  hours  working  our  way  up  to  the  snow-drifts 
above  them. 

We  had  reached  the  snow-line.  From  this  point  the  peak  loomed 
a  thousand  metres  or  more  above  our  heads;  and  the  way  was  over 
and  amongst  huge  snow-banks  and  icy  rocks  protruding  through 
them.  The  horses  could  take  us  no  further,  and  were  led  back  down 
the  sand-slope  by  one  of  the  peons. 

Thus  far  it  had  been  riding,  difficult  riding  truly,  but  still  riding. 
Now  began  the  actual  climbing,  —  climbing  through  soft  snow  and 
over  slippery  rocks,  sometimes  at  an  angle  of  much  more  than  forty- 
five  degrees.  We  had  hoped  to  find  the  snow  hard,  but  it  proved 
soft  enough  to  slump  in  to  one's  knees,  and  it  lay  treacherously  over 


THE  END.  239 

chasms  and  holes.  The  worst  element  of  the  difficulty,  however, 
was  the  dazzling,  utterly  blinding  glare  of  the  sun  on  the  snow-banks. 
Our  green  and  blue  glasses  afforded  little  amelioration,  and  by  the 
time  we  had  climbed  eight  or  ten  hundred  feet  the  scribe,  whose 
eyes  are  at  no  time  the  best,  was  seized  with  such  excruciatingly 
sharp  pains  in  the  left  temple  as  to  be  quite  incapable  of  sight  or 
further  progress.  Moses,  too,  was  suddenly  discovered  to  be  bleed- 
ing from  both  his  nose  and  ears,  and  a  violent  pain  in  the  chest  had 
nearly  prostrated  the  "  Theolog,"  who  sat  down  panting  and  protest- 
ing that  he  could  go  no  higher.  The  peon  Haysooz  had  given 
out  several  hundred  feet  below,  and  with  him  Mary  Joseph.  The 
other,  Joses,  having  his  feet  wrapped  in  strips  of  blanket,  kept  on  with 
the  guides. 

The  aneroid  barometer  now  indicated  an  altitude  of  15,760  feet 
above  sea-level,  and  not  far  from  8,000  feet  above  the  City  of  Mexico. 
The  view  from  this  point  was  grand,  no  doubt;  but  the  scribe,  for 
one,  was  quite  unable  to  behold  it,  and,  making  a  virtue  of  dire  neces- 
sity, made  his  way  down  out  of  the  snow,  over  the  sand  slope,  to  the 
rancho  as  best  he  could,  followed  by  Moses,  the  "  Theolog,"  and 
Karzy  ;  also  by  Haysooz,  Mar}'  Joseph,  and  the  limping  Jose. 

We,  the  party  of  the  inglorious  retreat,  reached  the  rancho  among 
the  pines  in  the  ravine  at  about  one  o'clock. 

The  others,  the  excelsior  party,  had  meantime  pressed  on  toward 
the  summit. 

At  about  three  o'clock  Harold  came  back  to  the  rancho  with  the 
last  one  of  the  Joses,  having,  when  near  the  rocky  spur  known  as  the 
Pico  del  Fraile,  been  seized  by  the  same  sharp,  cramping  pain  in  the 
chest  which  had  disabled  Mr.  Garland. 

Nothing  was  seen  of  the  other  four  young  gentlemen,  however, 
till  between  seven  and  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening,  when  they  came 
in  jubilant,  triumphant.  They  had  done  it  !  They  had  ascended 
Popocatapetl!     They  had  stood  on  the  rim  of  the  crater,  and  smelled 


2ao  THE  KNOCKABOUT  CLUB  IN  THE   TROPICS. 

the  brimstone!  They  had  heard  the  roar  of  the  great  subterranean 
fire-box!  They  had  seen  all  Mexico  lying  outspread  like  a  map  at 
their  feet. 

Thus  to  us,  the  dejected  ones,  they  held  forth. 

"The  crater,"  said  Stein,  in  reply  to  a  timid  question  by  the 
scribe,  "  is  a  semi-circular  pit,  with  almost  perpendicular  inner  walls 
at  the  very  apex  of  the  cone.  It  is  about  twelve  hundred  metres 
across  the  top,  and  from  four  to  five  hundred  metres  in  depth.  It 
smokes  steadily  sulphur  fumes;  it  is  these  fumes,  sublimed  on  the 
rocks  at  the  bottom  of  the  crater,  which  make  the  deposit  worked  by 
the  volcaneros  as  a  mine." 

Mr.  Brett  reports  the  height  of  Popocatapetl,  as  indicated  by  the 
aneroid  barometer,  at  17,876  feet. 

"Well,"  said  Moses,  when  this  much  of  information  had  been 
elicited,  "we 've  climbed  it,  —  not  all  of  us,  individually,  but  the  party 
—  our  party — has  climbed  it.     More  we  cannot  boast  to-day." 

And  thus  —  not  altogether  triumphantly,  nor  yet  ignominiously  — 
terminated  our  experience  of  Popocatapetl. 


^L^^X  ^-kirJ  "^Jsi^l    X&*zr>*^  -1 


